Into the Shadows
by SafyreSky
Summary: Dark times have fallen over Crystal Springs. Legendary Figures are going missing, their Legates stepping in. Determined to abolish the Clause and become his dad's Legate, Charlie must first prove himself by joining the others in a daring quest to save their Legendaries—discovering himself, along the way. [Sequel to Crystal Springs which should be read first!].
1. Prologue

**Prologue  
><strong>_February 2008_

A little ways North of Canada and slightly South of the North Pole lies a vast city, known as Crystal Springs. At its very heart is the source of all magic, surrounded by ancient healing waters—the origin of the city's name. Magical beings of all sorts have made their home around the power source.

Of course, all magical beings consist of _all_ magical beings.

_Including_ the very scary, _very_ dark nightmarish, hellish creatures from ancient.

In fact, there was a large, deadly silent forest in Crystal Springs—the Forsaken Forest, as it was so aptly named. And it is here, in this spot, where the absolutely terrifying creatures make their home.

Will-o-the-Wisps float around the forests, leading people astray and absorbing their life forces and energy—the good ones gone for centuries. Sirens roamed the waters, their beauty and haunting lyrics sending many travellers to a watery grave. Boogies lurked in the shadows, spreading their nightmares silently, avoiding Sandman and Xander when they came to quell the darkness.

Zombies roamed the underground caves, ghouls and ghosts haunting the corridors. Goblins ran amuck, bugging the poltergeists and irritating the demons.

Ah yes, the demons.

Deep underground, ancient demons thrived in their own, dark city under the city. Their shadows darted throughout the tunnels, cobwebs billowing in the cold, drafty breeze. These demons were filled with dark powers and evil thoughts, brimming with potential…

But they had been run underground.

The good in the world overshadowed their bad; and even when the bad was more prevalent and they managed to venture out and scare mortals well, they were always sent back. Most of the others accepted this. They had their Friday the Thirteenths and Halloween and occasional other days to thrive—why should they ask for more?

But one young demon grew up questioning this.

And as she got older, the more she questioned it.

And questioned it, and questioned it.

"Father," she asked one day, drifting over to an incubus that lazily lounged on an ancient arm chair, swishing a drink around in his cup.

"Yes Willow?"

"I've had a few thoughts," she began.

"That's never good," he replied, sipping his drink.

"Father, how powerful are we—us demons and spirits who live down here?"

"By ourselves? Relatively powerful. Capable of great, glorious evil. Together? We could be nigh impossible to defeat."

"Then if we are so powerful and so feared, why do we hide?"

The demon shrugged, his grey pointed ears downwards, pointed tail grabbing a coaster.

"We have our days, and we are happy with them. There's enough chaos and darkness in the world that we don't need to venture out all the time."

"For years, you have told me that. You and Mother. But Father, I don't believe that."

"Alright, fine," he snapped, placing his drink down on the coaster. "We don't leave from hiding because we are minor threats. Nobody _believes_ in us! Even when we dominate, fear ruling, good always conquers. Those faeries and sprites and mermaids and magical entities that prefer the light to the dark always spread joy, to kill our grief. And then, to top it all off, those damn Legendaries and their stupid holidays—except Halloween, of course. Though the mortals make the most important day of the year for us a laughing stock!"

"Then why not change it?"

"Because we are _frowned upon_, Willow! Mortals do not love us the way they love those petty little good entities. We have not instilled enough fear and darkness to change it."

"So why don't we?"

"Because, we are content," he finished, calming down. "We don't work hard at all; in fact, we have relatively easy lives. And we like it like that."

Willow frowned. "I don't."

Her father scoffed. "Tough luck, kid. Now why don't you get back to the forest with your Mother and the other wisps and do whatever it is you do?"

Huffing, she turned away, drifting to other parts of the tunnels, thinking. And thinking.

_We are minor threats._

"But we have so much untapped magic," she mumbled to herself, frowning.

_We are not believed in!_

So the magical world saw entities like her as scum, then. Nothing to be feared, just little nightmares…

And in that instant, Willow had an idea.

"I'll show him. I'll show everyone. It is time we came out of hiding, or at least showed everyone that we should be feared, that we aren't just a 'nightmare'."

Grinning, she drifted away, towards the exit they rarely left, and began to put her plans together.

It was time for a well-deserved change.

* * *

><p><strong>AN Look! A sequel to Crystal Springs! Whatttttt!?**

**So yeah here it is, Dark Shadows! A nice spooky prologue to get you all wondering...Anywho, I won't be updating Dark Shadows for the rest of November as it is NaNoWiMo and I'm actually writing the majority of this for NaNoWiMo! For now, keep a close eye on the Twelve Years of Frostmas because that is slowly bi-regularly updating ;)**

**Because of it's spooky premise, I wanted to post it on Halloween...but alas, I had no time! So here it is! Year Two of TTYoF will be up either anytime this week or on my attempted regular scheduled Fridays...we shall see. I have the chappies planned out up to Year Nine, I think, and Year Two is about half written.**

**But yeah. Hopefully, December will see many Dark Shadows updates! But for now, your lovely prologue. Off to study, project, and NaNoWiMo I go!**

**And now for your regularly scheduled disclaimers and white box.**

* * *

><p><strong>DISCLAIMER<strong>

****I do not own _The Santa Clause_, nor do I own "those damn Legendaries and their holidays" or any other canon characters mentioned above. I am making no profit off of this, it is purely for my enjoyment as well as that of the readers. I do, however, own Willow, as well as her father. I also own Crystal Springs, as well as it's landmarks such as the Forsaken Forest. Any resemblance they bear to any specific person/place/thing is purely coincidental; please do not use them without MY permission.****


	2. Chapter One

**Chapter One  
><strong>_March 2009_

Charlie Calvin sat in his room, slouched in his rolling chair, scrolling through his emails. Two years of community college had finally paid off; now he was waiting for replies from a numerous amount of other post secondary institutions to finish his business degree.

You see, Charlie had given it a lot of thought throughout high school—well, after his _disastrous_ sophomore year. He had decided in the long run that yes, he did indeed want to take over the family business.

There was just one problem.

The family business wasn't your average family business. It wasn't a successful five star restaurant, it wasn't a big law firm or dentistry or anything of that sort, really. You _could_ say it was a giant toy making company.

But not just _any_ giant toy making company.

_The_ giant toy making company.

Charlie Calvin's father was Santa Claus. Like, _the_ Santa Claus. And the family business? _The_ Toy Factory at _the_ North Pole.

Charlie had only been a little boy, about six years old, when his dad had accidentally scared the then Santa. This resulted in a catastrophic fall off of the roof of the old townhouse for the Santa before Scott—with a very unfortunate end. Afterwards, with Charlie's curiosity leading the way, Scott Calvin had put on the red jacket and the very next Christmas, he was Santa.

And Charlie thought it was just about the coolest thing _ever_.

And he still thought it too!

Growing up and hearing all his friends brag about what their parents did upset Charlie. His dad had the most _awesome_ job—which could totally trump any of the other kids jobs any day—but he couldn't tell _anyone_. He didn't take it well, as he grew up. Eventually, once he started high school…he began to act out. And by tenth grade, when he was sixteen, things got pretty bad. Like, naughty list bad—his dad actually came down from up North to set Charlie back to rights.

Then there was the little fact that he had to get married—or stop being Santa.

While his dad went through his "Mrs. Clause" as it was dubbed, Charlie went through his own thing…accepting Principal Newman, for starters, as his stepmom. But most importantly, accepting the fact that yeah, his dad was Santa. And yes, it sucked he couldn't tell and it _hurt_ that he was never home…but Charlie had had an epiphany that very Christmas. He watched his little half-sister go through the very same thing he went through when he was her age. He saw the magic alive in her eyes—and the magic came back to him, too. See, that was the trouble with having a legendary father (or in her case, "Uncle"). You never lost your belief. And Charlie was so happy that he and Lucy got to share that now…

Words couldn't describe how great he felt going into his grade eleven year. He finally began to rethink his life choices, and make that official decision—he would be the next Santa.

So, when everyone had to start deciding what to do with their lives after High School that year, Charlie straightened up his act and got down to business. He did his research for business programs—preferably in the same state. He had flunked some courses, so an extra year of high school was needed—though he didn't mind, really. He was still trying to figure out what would be the best course set for running Santa's Workshop.

He went to the local Community College for two years, gathering some credits, learning some trades and applying to finish his degree at several universities. And now, he waited; he had his top three narrowed down. They were, in no particular order: Chicago State University, Lakehead College, and Aurora University. All three schools had _prime_ business programs. But out of his top three, he really, really,_really_ wanted to get into Aurora.

He had seen the campus several times and talked to a few of the Professors who taught the business program. He loved the feel of the campus, the numerous residence buildings, and the course selection was quite broad. Some of his College credits could be transferred over—this left him room for one or two electives, though admittedly not much of it. It was enough room, though, that he could take a psychology course, if anything to get Neil off of his back (his step father was still holding out hope that Charlie'd change his mind and become a psychiatrist like him). The life of a business student was super busy and super hectic—everyone had warned him about it. But he had ensured that he was prepared for such a drastic change, and Charlie felt super confident. More so than he had felt in a long time.

It was a particularly fine day in March. The sun shone and it was warm enough weather for a light sweater. His window was open a crack, a lovely breeze wafting in. It had been a really great day so far, for Charlie. For the umpteenth time, he refreshed his email inbox—he had a new email, this time. He read the subject line.

**Your Offer of Admission**

"Oh my god," he mumbled out loud. His heart fluttered. Was it really…he looked at the sender.

**Aurora University Admissions Office**

"Oh my GOD!" Charlie screamed, clicking the email.

"Charlie, is everything okay up there?" his mom shouted up the stairs.

"Yeah mom! Everything's good!"

"What's the screaming then?" Neil shouted up.

Charlie skimmed through the email, his smile growing larger with every passing moment. It was. It was what he thought it was.

_He had been accepted into his top university._

"I got in!" he shouted out his door, clicking the print button and nearly ripping the paper out of the printer in his haste to run downstairs and show his parents. He burst through the door, taking the steps two at a time and hopping the last three. He darted through the front entrance, tumbled over the couch and ran into the kitchen, smacking the letter onto the island.

Neil picked up the letter, skimming through it carefully; Laura dried a cup, reading over Neil's shoulder.

"Congratulations, Charlie," Neil said, smiling once he finished reading it.

"I'm so proud of you, sweetheart!" Laura said, putting aside the dishes and hugging Charlie.

"Mo-_om_," he whined, blushing but smiling nonetheless.

"School of business? Are you sure, Charlie? You know, psychology has a lot of practical uses as well…"

"I'm sure, Neil," Charlie said, smiling.

"Your father will want to hear about this as soon as possible," Laura realized, finally letting go of Charlie.

"What's with all the noise?" Lucy said from the front, the door slamming closed behind her.

"Your brother got into Aurora."

"You did?" Lucy said, bursting into the kitchen. "Charlie, that's awesome!"

"I know!" he shouted back. Grinning ear to ear, Lucy ran and hugged him.

"You wanted to go there so bad! And now you actually are!"

"I know!"

"Are you gonna tell your dad?"

"I was just asking him," Laura said. "I'll go get the phone."

"Actually," Charlie began, putting Lucy down. "I was thinking of going up North and telling him in person."

"Can I come?" Lucy asked.

"Now Lucy, let's be practical here," Neil began. "You still have quite a few months of school left."

"I know, but I haven't missed a day and Uncle Scott loves when I visit! It isn't even his busy time yet!"

"True," Laura said. "But Lucy, this is Charlie's moment, not yours, sweetheart."

"But mom—"

"No buts, sweetie. Your mother is right. When you get accepted into your dream psychology program, you can go tell Uncle Scott yourself."

"Dad, I don't wanna do psychology. I wanna be a vet."

"Of course, sweetie."

Charlie and Laura shared a look, Lucy rolling her eyes. At the age of thirteen now, nearing completion of her grade seven year, she had grown a little bit and unfortunately for her parents, could be quite sassy at times—that teenage "attitude" adults so often cursed.

"I guess you're right. It is your moment, Charlie. But tell Uncle Scott I say hi. And Carol. And Jack. And Bernard. And Curtis. And Elle, and if Jacqueline is there tell her I say hi too and to tell her siblings I say hi and miss them and that we should totally hang out—"

"Woah there, slow down Luce! I haven't even gotten there yet!"

"I'll text you my list," she said, reasonably. "What if I get into a good High School, dad? _Then_ can I go tell Uncle Scott?"

"We'll see," he replied.

"That almost always means no," she said, making her way upstairs.

"Poor thing," Laura mumbled. "Maybe we should…"

"Now Laura, you know when raising a teenager that you have to put them in their place. You can't give them what they want, otherwise, they'll just walk all over you," he mumbled.

Now it was Laura's turn to roll her eyes. She'd been there once; the second time would be fine. Making a mental note to hide the parenting magazines from the nineties from Neil, she went back to finishing the dishes.

"When do you think you'll go up?" Laura asked.

"Not right now. Probably sometime in June. Or maybe even July, before school starts. Spend my last week or two up North, like a mini vacation."

"Not a place I'd pick for a vacation," Laura mumbled. "Too cold."

"How will you get there?" Neil asked. "And maybe you should let your father know sooner than when you go up."

"Mmm, good idea, Neil. Your father would love a day visit, Charlie."

"I know, mom. Then maybe I'll see if I can get a lift there later tonight." Charlie grimaced, remembering his bumpy flight with Tooth Fairy a couple of years back. "Actually, I'll just see if Bernard can beam me up, instead."

Plans already forming in his head, Charlie made his way back upstairs.

A visit to his dad up North was due. Things would be totally calm and relatively peaceful and he and his dad could bond and it would be_great_.

* * *

><p><em>Things are definitely not great<em>, Scott Calvin thought at that same moment, thousands of miles away at the North Pole. His mind was spinning as he dashed to the conference room, late for an emergency Council meeting.

For the past year, small disappearances had been plaguing the magical city of Crystal Springs. While this did not concern him directly, it was still an issue brought up at most Council meetings by Mother Nature—who headed both the Council of Legendary Figures as well as the governing body of the magical city, the Crystal Springs Assembly.

At first, it had been a fairy or two, very sporadically. Queen Fae had been adamant about finding her missing subjects (fairies had a strong sense of family amongst the whole of them) and had told Mother Nature to let as many authority figures know about the disappearances as possible.

Afterwards, a nymph went missing. And a few months later, a few of the smaller magical forest creatures, much to the chagrin of the Keeper of the Forest Realms, Faun. The Satyr (who was naturally calm and level headed) had begun to get a little feisty, with all the missing reports he gathered—especially when his fellow Satyrs and Centaurs joined the numbers of the missing, as if the Nymphs hadn't been enough.

Towards the end of the summer, mermaids began to go missing as well, and Empress Marilla was _livid_.

It was at that point that Mother Nature called for a Coalesce. That is, a joint meeting between the Council of Legendary Figures and the Crystal Springs Assembly.

If Scott had thought meetings with just the Legendaries were intense, the Coalesce was, perhaps, even _more_ intense. He first realized this when, walking in, he saw the most mismatched group of people he had ever laid eyes on.

The usuals were there, of course. Mother Nature and Father Time headed the table, Jack Frost close by his grandmother, Sandy beside him. On the other side of the table, Tooth sat in his spot, Cupid hovering above him, Bunny at the other end.

Then there were the new people. Well, if he could call them that.

A flaming man stood tall and fiery (quite literally) between Mother Nature and Jack. Blaise Frost was his name—Santa had met him a year prior. The father of none other than Jack Frost, Blaise was the rightful ruler of Crystal Springs, though instead of claiming his birthright millenniums ago, he abolished the monarchy. Following the abolishment, he instated the Assembly and their interesting system, co-heading it with his Mother-in-Law, Mother Nature. The Witches of Darkness and Light were there, as well—more familiar faces, though he didn't know the two matriarchies of the Witching Clans as well as he knew Blaise. The sisters were seated beside each other, between Sandman and a giant bowl filled with water.

It was that bowl of water that had drawn Scott's attention to the three unfamiliar faces.

In the bowl, sitting comfortably on a pile of plush, rich cushions on top of a chair of rocks, sat a plump mermaid. She had the longest green hair Santa had ever seen, her blue beta fish tail moving back and forth gently in the water. She wore strings of pearls around her neck, jewels adorning her ears and fingers, bracelets and bangles clinking on her arms. She looked sweet—but the expression on her face was angry, and a smidge pretentious. Standing by Father Time was the strangest creature Santa had ever laid eyes on—yes, stranger than the mermaid. His brown hair sat on his head in thick, tight curls, two horns bursting forth from the messy locks. His brown chest was that of a human—but his legs were that of a goat.

And to top it all off, shimmering in her own pool of lavender light, was a fairy. She hovered beside Tooth, her lavender wings (much bigger than Tooth's) fluttering, her long hair flowing around her. She gazed around curiously, chatting quietly with Tooth.

As the meeting began, the normal bickering was gone; it was all business and Santa had no idea how to behave at a meeting such as this. By the end of it, he had learnt quite a bit about Crystal Springs as well as the disappearances. They were growing frequent, and the Coalesce had been called to discuss each kidnap in detail and try to find a pattern or any clues and hints as to who or what was the cause. The disappearances were random, however. The heads of the different regions of Crystal Springs had heard second hand reports—all of which were heavily rumour filled and all very different. One common theme, however, was darkness.

At one point, the meeting had gotten so heated that someone had demanded Father Time tell them what was happening, being the keeper of time. And when he revealed that he couldn't see what entity was the cause, and that all he saw was darkness—well, things got a little more intense.

By the end of the meeting, Bunny had nearly gotten his fur scorched off, Marilla's bowl was partially frozen, Cupid's bow was cracked in half and stuck in Faun's horns, Father Time's beard was about two inches shorter, and Tooth Fairy wasn't sure if Queen Fae had cursed him accidentally on purpose or _not_.

The end message however, had been clear: the darkness surrounding the magical disappearances was spreading. Legendaries who worked alongside these mythical creatures who were at risk were advised to keep close eyes on their societies.

So, with that message in mind and after Christmas, the return of his Head Elves came about. With their reassurance that nothing would happen and that they as well as the Frosts would protect the elves _and_ the Pole at all costs, Scott donned his original human appearance and he and Carol set out to the tropics. Happy for the break, they left Baby Buddy in the care of his grandparents, close to his half-brother and their broken yet very close family, and—with more reassurances—took their leave.

Finally back from their usual two month vacation time, both Carol and Scott were happy to be back at home, amid the hustle and bustle of the North Pole. Two year old Buddy was also very happy to see his beloved parents—as much as he loved his grandparents who spoiled him quite a bit, for a two year old like him, Mama and Dada were even better. Unfortunately for Scott, right after the happy welcome he learnt that, if you'll excuse the phrase, all tinsel had hit the fan.

Easter Bunny was missing.

The Council now met ASAP, sans Bunny, very frantic. Easter was a few short weeks away and the Legend in charge of it was MIA. Walking into the official meeting room (not the kitchen or his office, thankfully), he took his seat beside Jack, sighing.

"Well, look who finally decided to join us. A little late, don't you think, _mon frère?_"

A ghost of a smile lit Santa's face, briefly. "Nice to see you too, Jack. Early, I see."

"Yeah. Mom has time issues, so my days of being fashionably late are no more," Jack Frost said, sighing dramatically.

"You were still late, weren't you?"

"Only a little! Besides, with this chaos, I _doubt_ anyone noticed."

"Father Time did, I'll bet," Santa joked.

"But Grandmother didn't, and that's all I'm concerned about."

"Been working up the Grandma points?" Santa asked.

"Eh, a little bit, here and there. She's quite busy, but since I've been back at home I've been making a point to drop by more frequently—and so has she."

Santa smiled. He was glad his frosty friend seemed to be getting along just fine. Four years prior, Jack had been hell bent on taking over Christmas—and nearly succeeded! But thanks to Santa's "niece", Jack was thawed, his once cursed heart—as they had learnt three years ago—warm for good. The very next year, Jack had reconciled with his family (amidst the drama of non-existent powers, a malfunctioning sibling and a leaky roof). Nothing like an old sibling rivalry to bring a family together, were Jack's words a few months later.

"I'm glad things are going well for you, pal."

"And how about you, hmm? How's the missus? Your vacation? I pulled some strings, made sure it was extra warm," Jack said, winking.

Santa chuckled. "Thanks Jack. It was a great vacation! We definitely needed it…Buddy is trouble."

"Terrible two hundreds?"

"Just twos, actually."

"Oh, right. Mortal years. Same difference, really. You know, I remember my sister's terrible two hundreds."

"I'm sure you helped her out a bit," Santa joked.

"She was actually quite mischievous without my interference, thank you very much."

"I can imagine," Santa said. "Have I missed anything, meeting wise?" Santa asked.

"Not really. Just a whole lot of bickering. I think Cupid's in shock; he hasn't been insulted in a little while. Maybe I should…"

"Don't get any ideas," Santa warned.

"You just love to suck the joy out of everything."

Santa rolled his eyes, reading through the files in front of them.

"Oh, I believe we're about to start," Jack said, elbowing Santa in the ribs.

"Alright, everyone calm _down_," Mother Nature said. For once, silence followed her words, the Legendaries (sans EB) stopping their chatting and paying attention. "We now call this emergency council meeting to session. Now, before you all ask," the dark woman said, noticing three hands up in the air, "this will _not_ be a Coalesce, as the last one didn't go as…smoothly as planned. Council Member Jack Frost and myself will be conferring with Head Assembly Member Blaise Frost after this meeting. Anything else?"

The figureheads looked around; with a unanimous head shake, they allowed Mother Nature to continue.

"Perfect. Someone wake up Sandman, please. Thank you, Tooth. Now, as you're all aware by now, it seems that the darkness has gained in power, faster than we thought. To dispel the rumours, I'll just come right out and say it. Whatever force is behind the disappearances of the magical populous of Crystal Springs has kidnapped our…_beloved_ Easter Bunny."

Of course, the silence didn't last long. Instantaneously. Everyone began talking at once.

"How did that happen? The overgrown fur ball has at _least_ several thousand kids to protect him!"

"Not only that, but Easter is less than a month away!"

"Who'll hide the eggs?"

"What if it comes after us next?"

"I think I need to change my toga…"

"Legends, please!" Mother Nature said, the ever so handy gavel slamming against the table.

"As established nearly two thousand and one hundred years ago, section thirty-two of the Magical Laws Collective state that, in a situation such as this, or the disappearance of the original Tooth Fairy and Sandman nearly three-thousand years ago, we are to enact the Legate Law," Father Time said calmly.

"Has somebody notified Peach and Blossom?" Sandy asked.

"I did. They should hopefully be joining us shortly," Mother Nature replied.

"Both have been suffering from lack of sleep," Sandy said. "They tend to take infrequent naps during the day, so they may be—"

"—late," Father Time finished for Sandy.

"Since they will be telling us what happened next, we will have to wait for them," Mother Nature said, frowning. "How long will they—?"

"Less than five minutes," Father Time replied.

Scattered chatter broke out, then. Santa frowned.

"You good, fat man?"

"Why is a fruit joining us? Who's blossoming?"

"Peach Bunny is the lovely wife of Easter Bunny. Well, lovely if you like giant, human-sized rabbits. Blossom Bunny is their youngest daughter, and Legate of the overgrown fur ball himself."

"Ah," Santa said, nodding in understanding. "Why the youngest?"

Jack shrugged. "She beat all thirty two thousand nine-hundred and ninety nine siblings to the spot. For a twelve hundred year old, that's impressive," Jack said.

"thirty-two thousand, nine hundred and ninety _nine?!"_

Jack snorted. "You thought he was joking about the number, didn't you? And they really are all in private school, to boot. Taught by the eldest, dunno why they pay her when she is after all, their kid..."

Santa stared, about to ask more questions when the doors burst open, admitting newcomers into the room.

The first was a tall, nearly human sized bunny; the light brown fur around her eyes was wet, a Kleenex clutched tightly in her hand. She wore a pink dress, the white flowered apron tied around it covered in paint stains, a box of Kleenex and multiple brushes sticking out of the pocket.

"Peach, hello dear. It's wonderful to see you—although I wish the circumstances were better," Mother Nature said solemnly, walking around the table and taking the bunny's paws in her hands.

She sniffled. "Thank you, Mother Nature," she said, her eyes watering up. Sobbing, she threw herself into Mother Nature's arms, crying.

"Shh, it's okay, dear. It's okay…" the matriarch of nature rubbed small circles around Peach's back, staring at the council with a look that clearly stated "help me".

"Peach, you look marvelous. It really is such a _shame _about your husband, we're all dreadfully, _dreadfully_ sorry," Jack said, springing up and rescuing his grandmother. He took Peach by the paw and lead her to EB's vacated seat, placing the box of Kleenex beside her. She shivered, pulling away from Jack's cold touch as quickly as possible, mumbling a thanks.

"Where's Blossom?" Sandman asked, looking around.

"I'm coming, I'm _coming_…" a ball of fur hopped through the doors at a high speed, bouncing off the floor. She landed on her mother's lap and sat herself on the table, right beside the box of Kleenex.

"Blossom, splendid," Mother Nature said. The youngest child of the Bunny Family, Blossom was about the size of an average, non-magical bunny. Like her mother, she had light brown fur; her tail was a small white puffball, matching the coat of fur on her belly and the soft insides of her long ears, just before the pink. A large white Easter lily sat on one ear, her green eyes excitedly taking everything in.

"Now then, where were we…ah, yes. Now that you and your mother have arrived, perhaps you could give us a bit of background on your father's disappearance."

The young bun looked at her Mother and with an encouraging nod, began her long, run on tale.

"Well I didn't actually see what happened, in fact none of us did, but two of my brothers—Spot and Spunk—saw the aftermath and it was really bad, the eggs were destroyed, the office was collapsing, dirt falling in _everywhere_ and there was—this is what they said—this overwhelming aura of darkness and fear and Dad was nowhere—"

"Blossom. Calm down, child," Mother Nature interrupted.

"Right. Sorry. Right. Calming down." The bunny breathed, her ear twitching, and continued her tale—this time, a bit slower.

"Dad was nowhere. So they came and told Mom, who was with me for once, and we went to investigate and—he was gone. The office was destroyed. Good news is, we have a skylight now! But aside from that, everything else is in pretty bad shape." Her ears were flat on her head, her nose twitching, as she launched into the final part of her story. "Momma and I went to check it out. There were these…shadows, moving along the walls… and they made these creepy noises…I felt so scared…"

"It sounds like boogies," Sandman said, uncharacteristically awake.

"Oh, dear," Mother Nature said.

"That would explain the darkness I've been seeing," Father Time mumbled.

"But the Coalesce. We couldn't even find a similarity in all the reports the Assembly had gotten," Tooth said, frowning.

Cupid shrugged. "Darkness was a common theme, and we all know that nobody spreads darkness as well as a boogie."

"But for them to instil enough fear to kidnap a Legend?" Tooth said, disbelieving.

Mother Nature frowned. "Perhaps they aren't working alone. Perhaps they made some kind of deal, or pact with something that allows them to—"

She was interrupted, however, by the doors opening once more.

"Santa…Council…"

"Bernard," Santa said, looking at the head elf, then to the Council, then back again. "Now really isn't the best time," he said, the whole council watching them.

"I know, but it's urgent," Bernard said.

"How urgent?"

"It's Charlie."

"Oh boy," Santa said.

"He wants to come visit."

"Now?"

"Tonight."

"But Bernard, the council meeting! The disappearances!"

"Look, Santa, I know you have a lot of stuff going on right now, trust me! I would've told you after the meeting. Only problem is, the snow globe's been glowing non-stop. It's distracting the elves upstairs."

Santa stared at Bernard, a pleading look on his face. He was making a sound in his throat—a cross between a thinking sound and a dying animal, specifically.

"Looks like you're not the only one with bad timing," Jack said, snickering.

"Go on, Santa. Your son needs you. Jack will catch you up later."

"Thank you, Mother Nature," Santa said, scurrying out of the room.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Surprise! An update to Dark Shadows! I didn't get as much as I wanted to get done during NaNoWriMo, but now that my exams are done *does a dance* I can update DS with Chappie 1 and hopefully finally get to Chappie 5 :3**

**A lot of characters and a lot of background. I apologise if the big chunks of text aren't your thing; the next chapter is decidedly less blocky, more talky, as per my usual. But because of where Dark Shadows begins-after a string of disappearances-and because it weaves back and forth between 08 and 09 as the events of this chapter meet up with our villain's shenanigans, a lot of stuff has to be explained in order for the present day things to make sense (well not present day for us).**

**Anywho, tell me what you think of the chapter! Thoughts, feelings, opinion on the first Legate (aside from Jacqueline) you've officially met! That white box is all for your thoughts and feels after those pesky disclaimers ;) Until next Thursday or the next Frostmas/Smiles update-whichever comes first!**

* * *

><p><strong>DISCLAIMERS<strong>

**I do not own ****_The Santa Clause_****, nor do I own Charlie Calvin, Scott Calvin/Santa Claus, Jack Frost, Bernard, or any other canon characters mentioned above. I am making no profit off of this, it is purely for my enjoyment as well as that of the readers. I do, however, own Crystal Springs as well as the Crystal Springs Assembly, Peach and Blossom. Any resemblance they bear to any specific person/place/thing is purely coincidental; please do not use them without MY permission.**


	3. Chapter Two

**Chapter Two  
><strong>_March 2008_

It was cold. Colder than the usual cold Willow was used to. She stood in the middle of a desolate cemetery, facing a large, stone mausoleum. Making her way to the door, she pondered what had brought her to this place.

Upon leaving the Underground last month, Willow decided to start spreading fear herself—and soon realized that one Will-o-The-Wisp wasn't as intimidating as she thought she could be. So upon further reflection, Willow decided that an alliance or pact with some other creatures of the dark with more power than her would be wise.

She had travelled throughout the Underground, to all four corners of the Forsaken Forest, and every monster, every creature of the shadows she met merely laughed at her, or told her that they rather not fight because they were perfectly happy with their lives right now, thank you very much.

So it was her last resort, coming to _this_ place.

The cemetery had no name; nobody _wanted_ to name it. They rather stay perfectly clear of the origins of all darkness, all nightmares in the world. Willow hadn't wanted to come to these creatures at all—but she was at her wits end.

Shoving open the dark, stone door, she drifted down the stairs, her bright blue glow illuminating everything around her. Old urns sat upon shelves, cracked and turning to dust. Cobwebs thicker than those back home coated the walls and blocked some archways—a small blast of hot blue fire cleared the way for her. She entered the basement of the structure, and composed herself, walking through the last archway.

All around her, niches held decaying coffins at equal intervals spiralling up with the endless walls, into the dark depths. Cobwebs blew in the breeze, the walls original stone colour long gone—they were covered in all sorts of nasty things that Willow rather not know the name of and seemed to be...moving...

_Who dares to enter the Sanctuary of the Shadows_, a voice hissed.

"My name is Willow. I come bearing a proposition for you and your…shadows," she said.

It wasn't that the walls were moving, Willow realized as her eyes adjusted. No, the _darkness_ around her was moving. Eyes were appearing, staring at her curiously. The darkness converged, gathering around her, flinching at the bright blue light surrounding the woman. They rose up, one dark shadow bursting through from the midst, floating above the dwarfed Will-o-the-Wisp. Red eyes stared at her, surrounded by the dark mass that was the shadow's body.

_And why does this interest us_, it asked, hisses coming forth from the shadows surrounding him.

Willow breathed. _Compose yourself, Willow. You know what you must do._

"It has come to my attention recently that our kind…the creatures of the dark…we are much too cordial, as it were."

Silence. And then another hiss.

_Proceed_.

Willow grinned. "I have decided that it is about time we changed this—however, I haven't found anyone willing to…cooperate with me. Rumour has it that you shadows, darkness personified…you _boogies_…are perhaps just as unsatisfied as I find myself currently."

_This…this is true, wisp. It is rightly unfair how have been banished, forced into the darkness when we have so much power…nightmares and fear used to be so prominent…_

"It can be like that again."

_What do you propose?_ He hissed.

"An alliance. You and I."

_And how would I benefit from an alliance with a half wisp like you?_

"Half wisp I may be, but it is the more prominent half. The other half is incubus…"

_Explains your charisma, at least,_ he hissed. _Tell me, wisp, what is your plan?_

"Due to my nature as a Halfling, I have a very special type of _power_, so to speak. My proposal is this: with your force and my powers, we slowly diminish the numbers of the good."

_We shadows shall help you…however…_

Willow raised an eyebrow, curiosity peaking.

_Show us this power of which you speak, first. And if it pleases us, and we see use in an alliance with you…we shall help you._

"Is that all?"

_For now, wisp._

"My name is _Willow_, not _wisp_. Fine. I agree to those terms—but you must listen to what _I _say.

_Am I sensing a deal, wisp?_

"It's as you said. For now." She resisted the urge to grind her teeth—_wisp_ was an insult. She _demanded_ respect.

_Excellent,_ the shadow said, _then we have ourselves an arrangement?_ The shadow asked, a blob of darkness protruding from his mass—his hand.

"An arrangement. For the time being," Willow replied, her flaming hand held out as well.

_Let us see what you can do then, wisp. We are at your service._

_"_Then let's not dally, shall we? Come, let me show you what I can do..."

* * *

><p><em>March 2009<em>

"Are you sure a visit is fine, dad? You look a bit…stressed."

"Don't worry about me sport," Santa said into the snow globe, smiling at his son's image. "I'm always stressed, you know how it is. You can come visit today and tell me all about your news in person, it's fine."

"Awesome! I can't wait to tell you, you'll be really happy to hear it!"

"You could tell me now," he said, winking.

"As if! It'll be way more impactful in person, Dad."

"Fine, fine. Later today it is then. I'll see if Tooth can give you a lift or something…"

"I'm still nursing _bruises_ from my last ride with Tooth…can't you send Bernard to get me? It would be way more efficient and less painful on my part…"

"He's got a point," Bernard said from across the desk.

"But what about the workshop?"

"Santa, you and I both know Elle can take care of things for an hour. It's fine," Bernard said.

"I know, I just…worry is all."

"Dad, Elle's cool," Charlie said.

"I know, but they just came back from seeing her family and with everything that happened—"

"That was a while ago, Santa. She's fine," Bernard said, surprised Elle hadn't barged in here herself and told them all off for even _questioning_ her position.

"Alright, fine. Bernard will pop on by later and bring you up," Santa gave in, smiling.

"Yes! Thanks Bernard!"

"No problem, sport," he replied.

"I'll see you later Charlie, alright?"

"Yeah! See you later, Dad!"

As the connection to the other snow globe went dead Scott sighed, slumping down in his seat.

"Santa, don't worry."

"Don't worry? How can I not worry? EB is missing and the Council is here, and now Charlie wants to come up and I don't want him to know about EB's disappearance! He'll freak out!"

"You're starting to sound like Bernard," Elle said, bursting into the office, a stack of papers in one arm.

"Hey! I don't sound like that," he pouted.

Elle laughed, kissing his cheek playfully.

"No, she's right, I do sound like you," Santa said.

Bernard's pouting intensified.

"Oh, stop that pouting you grump," Elle chided. "I hear you're going out later tonight," she began.

"Charlie wants to visit," Santa supplied.

Elle groaned. "_Please_ tell me he's matured at least a _little_ bit since I last saw him."

"He's mellowed out," Santa said.

"He smoothed things over with Danielle and he's had a lot of growing time," Bernard added. "You probably won't even recognize him anymore."

"That's reassuring. Which is why I'm in here, actually. Seriously Santa? I can totally take care of things while Bernard's gone, and you know it! In fact, I think I may even do a better job than him sometimes!"

"Hey! There's a reason I'm number one! Besides, the only reason Santa was questioning you is because he's afraid of his support system leaving."

"What are you talking about? I'm not afraid."

"Sir, please. Your thoughts are literally screaming _holy tinsel Bernard don't leave what if whatever took Easter Bunny takes me_…you get the picture," Elle said smartly, biting back an _I could totally protect you just as much as Bernard could if something attacked you _comment.

"Okay, fine. Maybe I'm a little afraid. But just a little. How am I gonna juggle Charlie visiting _and_ the council meeting _and_ keep the disappearances from Charlie?"

"Well you can knock one of those things off the list. Incoming snowdiva in three…two…one…"

Right on cue the office door burst open, Jack entering the office. He stopped, looking at the three occupants of the room crowding around the desk.

"Am I interrupting something?"

"We were just finishing up, Frost," Bernard said.

"Funny you should mention that, Bernie. Grandmother Nature sent me to let Santa know that we just finished up, as well."

"Stop calling me Bernie!"

Elle giggled, Bernard's pout intensifying even more—she didn't think that level of puppy-dog pout was even _possible_.

"Finished already? That was fast."

"Yeah, well we can't really come to much more of a conclusion. Still the same story—darkness, fear…and poof! Bye-bye legendary!"

Santa flinched. "That's a rough way of putting it."

"Nonsense," Jack said, taking a seat in front of the desk. "You and I have nothing to fear, Santa."

The three shared a look, questioning Jack.

"Well, I mean, realistically speaking. You're Santa Claus! Nobody's gonna try to take you! As for me, I've got enormous power in my own right—I hail a _season_. I could put up a good fight."

"Really now?" Elle doubted.

"Why it's nice to see you too, Ellenora. I've been great, thanks for asking! And I heard that _snowdiva_ comment. Someone's been hanging out with a certain little flurry a little bit too much, if you ask me…"

Elle rolled her eyes, smiling nonetheless. "We're done here, right sir?"

"Yeah, yeah. Sure. Of course. You and Bernard can get going."

"Did Charlie give a time?" Bernard asked.

"Whenever you can get him."

"Sure thing, Santa," Bernard said, exiting the room, hand in hand with Elle.

"I'm glad they worked everything out," Santa said.

"They are sickeningly cute, aren't they? Rainbow puke worthy."

"Can't you just be happy for them?"

"I am happy for them," he said, honestly.

"Good. I'm glad. Anyway, what did I miss?"

Jack sighed. "Same thing as always for the past year. Blossom gave us the story, we bounced around theories—Mother Nature thinks that whatever is doing this has made some kind of alliance with a legion of creatures who specialize in dark magic."

"Like Cheri?"

"Not _dark magic_ dark magic. Magic that specializes in _darkness_."

"What's the difference?"

"Seriously, Santa? You should really go to some of the lectures at the Academy, brush up on your magical knowledge. It would do you some good, you know."

"Jack, I'm not in the mood for good-natured teasing…or whatever it is you're doing."

"Alright, _chill_. There's dark magic, which you know—typically 'evil' spells and enchantments, things that are generally seen as "bad" or maybe a little bit on the mischievous side…stuff Cheri deals with. Or rather, in. Then there's _dark_ dark magic. It's magic that deals with darkness. Fear, bad dreams…that sort of thing. It falls under Sandman's jurisdiction because his magic is imperatively good—complete opposite of that type of dark magic."

"So whatever took EB and the other magical beings is perpetually dealing with the _darkest_ of magic?!"

"Yup."

Santa made a sound somewhere between a squeal and a whine.

"Santa, Santa, fret not! I promise we're fine, alright? Just focus on the good things, 'kay? Like…your son coming up to visit, that's a good thing."

"Right…Charlie…he says he has good news."

"Fantastic," Jack said dryly. "Well I'm sure if it's bringing him up here at _this_ hour, it's _very_ good news."

Santa nodded. He glanced at Jack, his eyes curious. "How on Earth are you this calm and rational right now?"

"Centuries of practise, _mon frère,_" he said, leaning back in his chair, feet on his desk.

Though secretly—though he'd never admit it to his dear friend, no matter how close they were—Jack was _petrified_ on the inside.

Truth be told, all the Legendaries were.

* * *

><p>Charlie paced in the living room back and forth, waiting for his ride. One, two, three steps to the fire place. A frown, a glance at his watch, more frowning. A turn on his heel. One, two, three steps to the end of the loveseat. Another sigh. Another turn on his heel, and repeat.<p>

This had been going on for nearly an hour. Neil sat on the couch, one leg over the other, eyes peering out from over a parenting magazine, glasses perched on his nose. He watched his stepson's pacing, trying to get a sense of what he was feeling.

Laura sat beside him, feet curled up under her legs, one of the many Aurora view books Charlie had acquired in her hands. She glanced at Neil, raising an eyebrow.

Charlie's pacing was interrupted by a cough. He spun halfway through his walk back to the end of the couch, staring at the couple on the couch.

"Charlie," Neil began, putting down the parenting magazine he was reading. "You need to calm down."

"Calm? I am calm!" He said impatiently.

"No you're not," Laura replied.

"I'm just really excited to tell dad. He'll be so proud! But Bernard's taking for_ever_," Charlie said, plopping down between his parents.

"Is that the only thing that's bothering you?" Neil asked.

Charlie sighed. "What if…what if Dad's not proud? I mean, I took a while to get to where I am now. Like, academically I mean."

"Oh, sweetie," Laura said, pulling her son close for a hug. "Of course he'll be proud of you! Your father loves you so much and just wants to see you be happy. He knows you've been dying to get into Aurora, he'll be ecstatic."

"You're right, mom," Charlie said. "Thanks."

"It's my job," she replied, putting the view book aside and picking up a novel.

Suddenly, a rummaging in the kitchen caught their attention.

"That you, Luc?" Neil shouted.

"No, I'm in my room!" She shouted back from upstairs.

Putting down the parenting magazine (which Charlie took and handed to Laura as soon as he left the room, who promptly replaced it with one of her old romance novels), Neil went into the kitchen to investigate.

"Hey Neil, what's up? For the record, the freezer may keep your bread for longer, but it gets all hard on the edges, look at this_…_" said a familiar voice.

Charlie grinned, his mom smiling back. Excitedly, he jumped over the couch and peered into the kitchen.

Sure enough, it was Bernard. In one hand was the sandwich he had just made, one large bite in it. Snow covered his beret, light flecks of it sprinkling his travelling coat.

"Bernard! You're here!"

"Hey sport—ah!"

Charlie grabbed the elf and hugged him, lifting him off the floor a bit.

"Great to see you too, Charlie. Mind putting me down now?"

"Oh! Sorry," he said, placing the elf down.

"Thanks. Ready to go?"

"I've been ready for _hours!_ I'm so excited," Charlie said, running back to the living room and grabbing a knapsack.

Bernard followed him out of the kitchen, leaving Neil staring at the counter—which was now a mess of lunch meats, bread crumbs and mayonnaise.

"I had this kitchen spotless!" Neil said aloud, to nobody in particular.

Meanwhile, back in the living room, Laura was now hugging Bernard…and mom-ing him.

"How was your ride here? Safe and sound? Have you eaten enough? Do you want some leftovers? We had a roast for dinner today to celebrate Charlie's big news, and I made sure that it was _not_ dry—"

"My ride was fine. Since I'm here in one piece it was obviously safe, and yes I have eaten enough, I'm just always hungry. Comes with working so hard I suppose, you forget to eat sometimes." He shrugged.

"You're going to work yourself to death one day, Bernard," Laura said, concerned.

"Nawh," he replied, mouthful of bread. "Elle makes sure I eat, she'd kill me if I didn't take some form of food break during the day—something about not being energized enough for a Dalek attack. Though I'm pretty sure they wouldn't attack a bunch of elves."

"At least you know she's prepared, if Daleks _were_ to suddenly attack," Charlie said.

"True," said Bernard, smiling. "So what's this news you're all excited about?"

"I got into Aurora!" Charlie shouted.

Bernard grinned. "That's great news, sport! Congrats! Santa'll be pretty excited when he hears. It'll make his day."

"Has it been a rough day?" Laura asked.

Bernard paused for a moment, thinking. On the one hand, everyday was pretty rough recently, though today—what with the disappearance of Easter Bunny—was especially hard. On the other hand, Santa didn't want to let his family know _about_ the disappearances.

"Well…"

Thankfully, Bernard was saved from answering by the sound of excited footsteps running down the stairs.

"Bernard!"

"Hey, Lucy!" he said, arms open, already anticipating her signature running hugs.

She slammed right into him, squishing him happily.

"You've grown a lot," Bernard noticed. "You're almost as tall as me!"

"I know, isn't it great? I can reach the high shelf where Charlie keeps his sweets."

"I _knew_ that was you!"

"Bernard, I really wanted to go up and see Uncle Scott," she began.

"Lucy, we talked about this," Neil said from the kitchen, cleaning up Bernard's mess.

"I know, dad. Geez. I was gonna say, I know it's Charlie's moment so I won't go up. I did want to say hi though and tell you to tell Uncle Scott I say hi, and Elle…"

"Sure thing," Bernard said.

"And also Jack if he's up there and tell him to say hi to Jacqueline for me and the twins, tell him to tell them that we gotta hang out sometime soon—"

"Lucy, do you mind? We've gotta get going."

"Sorry Charlie."

"S'okay, I'll tell him your list. Text it to me, right?"

"Sure! When will you be back?"

"In a day or two, probably."

"Okay. I'll miss you!" Lucy said, hugging her brother.

"No you won't, you'll use my room as a closet again."

Lucy laughed. "Bye Charlie, bye Bernard! It was nice seeing you!"

"Nice to see you too, kiddo. All set?" Bernard asked Charlie, grabbing his arm.

"Yup!"

"Alrighty then, off we go."

And in a small shower of silent golden sparks, Charlie and Bernard disappeared.

"Bernard's right," Neil said seconds later, waking into the room and sitting back down on the couch. "We really do have hard bread."

Laura laughed, watching Neil pick up the romance book and open it up.

"Wait a second…what happened to my magazine?"

She laughed even harder.

* * *

><p>"So the whole council is trusting that little bunny to take care of Easter this year?" Santa said, absent mindedly bouncing Buddy on his knee.<p>

They were in the main room of Santa's private quarters behind the workshop, a fire crackling merrily in the Santa shaped fireplace, mugs of hot cocoa steaming on the table and a plate of fresh cookies in the middle. After the council left—Mother Nature staying behind with the Bunny family (Scott wasn't sure if she had left yet), Jack had decided to stick around, visiting Carol and Buddy as well as giving the Pole a lovely set of flurries.

Jack sat on a sofa chair, one leg crossed over the other, a steaming cocoacinno in his hand. Carol sat on the couch across from him, against Scott's side, the baby on both their knees. When Santa had joined them, Jack had been regaling her with tales from Frost Mansion; and shortly after, telling her about what had transpired at the meeting. (She was welcome, of course; however, she had had a class to teach and absolutely loved each and every one of her bright students. Carol was hoping to expand the school once this class graduated, and offer several different classes throughout the day at a large array of times—of all the people she had ever taught, these elves were the brightest group and more than anything she wanted to give them an education outside of North Pole things).

Now they were discussing the meeting in full detail. The Legate Law had been enforced and now—until they found Easter Bunny—Blossom Bunny _was_ the Easter Bunny.

"Santa, just because she's a little kid, doesn't mean she can't take care of a holiday. You see, us Legendaries knew what we were doing when we picked our Legates."

"I'm very curious," Carol began, feeding little bits of cookie to Buddy. "How did the Legate Law originally begin?"

"What do you mean?" Jack asked.

"What events led to the establishment of Second in Commands for Legendary Figures? Why did it need to be put in place? I mean, the concept is fascinating and very smart, of course, but I would love to learn more about it. Maybe I could use it for a lecture at the school…"

"It's a fascinating story, actually. Well before your time, in fact." Jack frowned, lost in thought. "Jacqueline was about two or four hundred and I was somewhere in my late twenty hundreds, I think, so that would place the date around three or five hundred Common Era," Jack mussed.

"Holy tinsel," Santa exclaimed.

"We're pretty old, us legendary figures," Jack murmured.

"Do you have the exact date?" Carol asked.

"Of course I don't, but rest assured Mrs. Claus I will get them to you, for the sake of your lovely school! Now, shall I continue this story?"

Carol nodded, grinning.

"The fourth century and onwards, until about the eighth century was a very similar time to our current issues for us magical folk. For some odd reason, legendary figures were disappearing—to this day we _still_ don't quite know why, though some people thought it was the plague. When both Tooth Fairy the First and Sandman the First disappeared, Mother Nature and Father Time came up with a set of rules concerning the safety of the special types of magic left uncontrolled by the legends who were gone, and preparing should it ever happen again. Each of us figures were to have a second in command, which we would call our Legate, who would step in for us should anything happen to us that would prevent us from controlling the special magic we deal with."

"That makes sense," Carol said, as Jack sipped his drink. "Without some kind of control, magic goes crazy."

"Exactly," Jack said. "You saw with the Deliquesce three years ago what would happen if I couldn't control the Winter Magic that kept the Christmas Magic subdued. Why, if you and Santa both disappeared randomly, and another Santa didn't arrive, even the Winter Magic surrounding Elfsburg couldn't keep the Christmas Magic from imploding. You both have a semi-magical core that allows you to use the Christmas Magic and keep it regular."

"I keep forgetting you have magic too, Carol. How's that coming along?"

"I think I've finally mastered what I can and can't do…why do you think everything's always so clean and Buddy's never fussy?"

"Of course… but how did I not notice that my brilliant wife was the reason behind half my sanity staying intact?"

She smiled. "Because you're always so busy," she said, smooching his cheek. "And so am I, with the school and other Mrs. Claus things, you know."

Jack rolled his eyes, gagging a bit. "Can we focus on my story here?"

"Sorry," Santa said.

"Please continue," Carol asked.

"Since you asked so nicely, I will. But no more interruptions! Now where was I…right. Mother Nature and Father Time composed this law and we all had to find someone suitable to take our position. They had to have our same powers, and be similar in name, if possible—less confusing for humans. Naturally, I picked my little sister; she was already practically named after me and we were very close. I taught her quite a bit and she used me as a target dummy in return. It was actually quite cute, she was just about attached to my hip."

Wistfully, Jack sighed, reminiscing on his little sister's actual little phase.

"What a cute mental image," Carol murmured, Buddy giggling in agreement.

"Anyway, the whole point to this story, Santa, is not only for the education of your lovely wife," he said, putting down his now empty glass, standing up and kissing Carol's hand, "but also because when we Legends picked our Legates, we weren't joking around. The people we choose were close to us—be it sibling, niece, nephew, daughter or son—all had potential, something special that made us believe that they would be perfect for our jobs. Blossom may seem like a hyperactive five year old, but something about her made that grumpy old fur ball pick her as his Legate. She'll be perfect for the job, Santa. Trust me."

Santa nodded. This whole Legate thing was deeper than he thought—no wonder Santa Claus just had the Clause. It was very rare for a Santa to have a family here—according to Bernard, he was the first.

"Santa?" Elle said, knocking gently on the front door.

"Elle! Come on in," Santa said, getting up and opening the door.

"Thanks Santa, it's _freezing_ out there. Well, more so than usual. Mind turning it up a notch?" she said, glancing at Jack.

"Unfortunately my dear, this notch only goes _down_. Besides, it's not that bad out there."

"Dude, your normal temperature is zero degrees. _Celsius_."

"Fair point. Rest assured, the flurries will stop in about an hour or less."

"Thanks," she said, grinning. "I've gotten word from Bernard," Elle began. "He's on his way with Charlie right now."

"That is my cue to leave," Jack said, making his way outside.

"Sure you don't wanna stick around here with us?" Santa asked.

"I'll pass. Charlie isn't very _fond_ of me, as you recall."

"You froze his parents and upstaged his dad, what did you expect?" Elle sassed.

"Jacqueline forgave me easily!"

"Yeah, after seething with anger for centuries on end, and nearly killing you…even if it was under a psychotic evil uncle's influence; he was drawing in her anger to control her easily. And you're still not _fully_ forgiven, you ninny head. She's still got scars, you know."

"Trust me, Elle. I know very well," he said, solemnly.

"Good. Actually, speaking of your sister, she says for you to pick up your connection, she's concerned. Didn't say why though."

Jack's face fell, briefly, his charming façade returning ASAP. "I'm sure it's nothing big, she probably just wants to hear about the meeting," Jack said.

"Whatever you say, Jackhole."

"Nice to see you too, Elle," Jack said. He and Elle had been getting along swimmingly over the past three years. Like his sister's wonderful nickname for him (frosty), Jackhole was Elle's term of endearment specially reserved for Jack. And if it wasn't mean in undertone, Jack was about ninety-nine percent sure it would make Bernard jealous.

Ruffling her hair, much to Elle's amusement (and annoyance), Jack bid the Claus family farewell and made his way back into the workshop's guest wing where his honorary room stood waiting for him.

* * *

><p>Jack's timing was more than perfect; nearly seconds after he left, Bernard and Charlie materialized right outside the door to the Claus' residence.<p>

"Can I just walk in?"

"Course. It is technically your house too," Bernard said, urging him forward.

Grinning, Charlie burst open the doors, smiling brightly.

"Dad!"

"Charlie! Hey sport! It's so nice to see you," Santa said, hugging Charlie tightly.

"How's my little brother doing?"

"See for yourself," Carol said, joining her husband and handing Buddy over to Charlie.

"Heya sport junior, how's it hanging?"

"Char-wee! Char-wee!" Buddy gurgled, poking his brother's face. Charlie laughed, putting the toddler down. Happily, Buddy ran off to his play corner, almost tripping several times.

"Look at him _go_," Charlie exclaimed.

"Yeah, he's a motor boat. Non-stop moving and getting into a whole lotta trouble, that's for sure. Almost as bad as you when you were two."

"Sure dad. Sure," Charlie said.

"Your dad told me you had big news to share," Carol said, holding out her arms for a hug. Grinning and hugging his step-mom, he nodded.

"You guys are gonna love it!"

"That's for sure, it's great news," Bernard said. He had gone up to Elle as soon as they arrived, hugging her tightly and talking quietly. Now they stood hand in hand, about to leave.

"Let me be the first _here_ to say congrats, Charlie," Elle said, winking.

"Oh…uh, thanks Elle."

The first time he ever met Elle, Charlie flubbed up a little tiny bit. And by flubbed up, he totally embarrassed himself and was put right in his place by Elle—it was after that day he decided to _not_ try the cool kid voice ever again. Needless to say, Charlie was still a little bit wary around Elle—after all, she could _read minds_ and that shit was scary, no matter _what_ age Charlie was. At any rate, now that he considered himself well-rounded and grown up, he had absolutely no idea how to act with Elle. The result? Awkward turtle Charlie.

Elle grinned, pleased with how flustered she made the kid. "You're welcome. Anyway, Bernard and I are on our way out for the evening rounds."

"Nice to see you Charlie. Take care, alright? And if you need a ride back home, you know where to find me," Bernard added.

"Yeah. Sure. Thanks, Bernard!"

They took their leave, Charlie turning back to his dad and stepmom.

"You've had me waiting all day, sport. C'mon, tell us the news," Charlie said.

"Okay. So you know how I recently put in all those university applications?"

They nodded.

"Right. So, I got the first two back pretty fast," he said, taking a cookie and sitting down, his dad and Carol following his lead, "and was waiting for like _ever_ to hear from the last one."

"Aurora, right?" Scott asked.

"Yeah. So guess what happened today," he said, on the edge of his seat, grinning.

"No way. You got in?"

"Yeah!"

The celebration that followed had Charlie almost fall out of his seat. Scott whooped out loud, Carol screaming. Buddy ran up to his brother, the noise drawing him out of his block pile.

"Charlie that's wonderful news!" Carol said, prying Buddy off his brother's leg and calming him down.

"I'm so happy for you Charlie! You did it!" Scott exclaimed, nearly shouting.

"I did it!"

"You did it!"

"Yeah, I did it!"

"Charlie, we're so proud of you," Carol said, hugging him, Buddy on one side. "I knew you could do it."

Charlie grinned. It meant a lot to him that his dad was proud. Now, seeing his former principal who was once so disappointed in him wasting his intelligence, knowing he could do so much more if he just applied himself proud of him made him positively glow.

"You're brilliant, Charlie," she continued. "I know you'll do amazing things."

"Thank you so much, Carol," Charlie said, grinning.

"C'mon, let's break out the cocoa! You gotta tell us everything, sport."

"You guys go ahead, I'll join you in a moment—this little one needs to take a bath and go to bed," Carol said.

The baby giggled, yawning, as if to prove his momma's point.

"See you later, Carol," Charlie said. "Bye Buddy!"

"Night Cha-wee!"

"Here," Santa said, pouring him a mug of cocoa and sitting down beside Charlie, watching Carol and Buddy leave. Charlie took it happily, thanking his dad, and sipped happily.

"Tell me all about it," Santa said.

So Charlie did. He told his dad about the campus and the resources, the courses, the helpful Profs, and the esteemed faculty of business.

"Business?" Scott asked.

"Well yeah! I figured if I'm gonna go into the family business, I should know a thing or two about…well, business."

"Family business? You seriously wanna be Santa?"

"One day," Charlie said.

"Are you sure about that?"

"Why wouldn't I be, Dad? It's the best job in the world!"

"Well, it's really stressful," Scott began. "You have this constant secret to protect, and all these rules and clauses to follow…business seems to always be behind and sometimes things seem like they're all gonna fall apart and there's nothing you can do about it, and then there's the Council and this whole other magical world where all these strange things happen and suddenly you're in trouble—" Scott stopped abruptly.

"Dad. I _know_. I've seen you go through all those things, and I totally understand that it's a big commitment. A huge commitment, and a lot can go wrong—but I want to do it so bad."

Scott pondered for a moment, frowning.

"C'mon, Dad. I'm all set up for it already! I'm going into business, I've grown up watching you run this place, I know _all_ the clauses—well, that we know of so far—and I've already helped you meet the yearly quota like five times."

"I know. What about your brother? What if he wants to be Santa?"

"Then he can be the Santa after me."

"Alright. There's just one little problem," Scott began.

"The Clause," Charlie supplied.

"Yeah."

"Well I've been thinking a lot about that, and I don't see why you can't just give me the jacket and I put it on, you know?"

Santa paused. "I'm not sure it works like that…tell you what, Sport. You focus on this year—not the five years or whatever in the future, okay? When things tone down in the Council, we'll ask Mother Nature about the specifics. You sure you wanna do this?"

"As sure as ever."

"Okay. Then we'll figure it out together later, alright?"

"Okay."

Satisfied, Santa leaned back in his chair, relaxing. Yet another thing to add to his long list of things to do, right under find Easter Bunny, avoid the darkness, manage the workshop, be a father double-time, and survive the year.

But for now, he would enjoy the company of his eldest son and chill out, as Jack would say.

* * *

><p>"I can't believe you," Elle said, laughing as she and Bernard walked to the Workshop.<p>

"What? I was hungry and they had food."

"You just wanted to bother Neil," Elle said.

Bernard grinned sheepishly. "You got me," he teased, pulling her closer to his side and kissing the top of her curly head.

Elle blushed, smiling up at Bernard—and suddenly shivered.

"I've got chills," she said, looking around.

"Yeah, me too," Bernard said, a goofy smile on his flushed face.

"No. Like, actual chills."

"Oh. Right. It is oddly cold," Bernard frowned, noticing the rapid drop in temperature. he glanced at Elle, who was shivering a little bit.

"Here, let me warm you up," he said, pulling her close and wrapping his arm around her shoulders. Elle smiled, pressing herself closer to Bernard and sighing contentedly.

"Warm up? Puh-_lease_. I think the two of you need to _cool down_," said a voice.

Bernard jumped; Elle, startled, whipped around—only to stare a giggling teenaged winter sprite in the face.

"For the love of gingerbread, Jacqueline! You scared us half to death!"

Jacqueline was in stitches, clutching the sides of her frozen blue dress, her ice blue eyes tearing up. "Oh man, you guys should've _seen_ how scared you were! That was brilliant, yay me!"

"Yeah, yay you," Bernard said, sarcastically.

"I totally saw that coming," Elle said, indigent.

"No you didn't," Jacquie replied, crossing her arms, grinning at her friend.

"I would've if I wasn't...otherwise occupied!"

"With lover boy," Jacquie said, waggling her eyebrows. She got the reaction she wanted—Bernard blushed even deeper, Elle nearly speechless.

"You're cheeky today," she finally said, grabbing Bernard's arm and walking once more, Jacquie settling into step beside them.

She shrugged. "I saw the opportunity, so I took it. No biggie."

"What brings you up North?" Bernard asked.

"Jack."

"He still hasn't picked up?"

"Nope."

"I wonder why," Bernard pondered. "He seemed just as cocky as usual to me."

Jacqueline laughed. "You haven't heard his thoughts, my friend."

Elle looked up, interested; she stared at Jacqueline. Their eyes locked, neither one blinking.

"It's his thoughts, Elle," Jacqueline finally said. "I don't want to tell you what he wouldn't want me to tell you, or anyone, really. It's why he's been so cocky, as Bernard has so eloquently put it."

"Alright, I'll stop prying. Last we saw of him, he was leaving Santa's place before Charlie arrived."

"Before that he was with Mother Nature in the council room, who's still with Peach and Blossom."

"Still? Wow. I'll start there, thanks Bernard. He does have to go with Grandmother to confer with my dad and the Assembly, so maybe he went there after he left. This whole darkness thing is _terrifying,_ poor Peach, losing her husband. An improvement if you ask me, though."

"Jacqueline, behave!" Elle said, stifling laughter.

"What? EB isn't exactly a giant ray of sunshine, you know."

"She has a point," Bernard said.

"Don't encourage her! As right as she is."

The trio laughed, entering the workshop.

"I'll let you guys do your nighttime walk about, then. I have a rogue winter sprite to hunt down. Nice seeing you two!"

"Stick around next time you popsicle," Elle joked. "And try not to interrupt my romancing!"

"_Your_ romancing?" Bernard said. "I started it!"

"I was _well_ on my way to continuing it before Jacquie crashed us."

Laughingly, Jacqueline waved bye and, being the show off she was, flew on top of the globe at the naughty and nice center and up to the top floor from there, continuing on her quest to find Jack.

* * *

><p><strong>AN**—**This chapter is the longest chapter I have ever written _ever_ at 6,201 words holy crap. Anyway a very happy belated Christmas, or merry Christmas if it's coming up for you, and a happy Hanukkah and Kwanzaa and whatever other holidays you celebrate from me and mine to you and yours! I hope the New Year is really awesome for you lovelies!**

**I've been wanting to update _something_ since the 21st of December-A Smile Shot, Twelve Years of Frostmas as well as Dark Shadows but I didn't finish the Smile Shot yet, Twelve Years is giving me a wee bit for a hard time on Year Three (but it will be out soon) _and_ even though I've had this chappie written since November, there was a _lot_ I wasn't too happy with until this very moment. Everything is to my liking now! And I got a _tonne_ of Smile Shots planned to keep people entertained while I work on Dark Shadows (I'm on Chappie Four or Five, currently. The jumping back to the year before and the year after are giving me grief but I'm getting close to linking Willow's shenanigans with the rising turmoil in the Council and Crystal Springs as well as the main plot****—Charlie and the family business!) **

**So here's Chappie Two! Please tell me how it was, if the characters were in character**—**Jacqueline has entered the scene and Elle has made an appearance yay! I look forward to your comments, rants raves and squealing! Amongst other things. How's the weather? Holidays? Any weird stories you wanna tell me? I love hearing from my readers! :D**

* * *

><p><strong>DISCLAIMERS<strong>

******I do not own _The Santa Clause_, nor do I own Charlie Calvin, Scott Calvin/Santa Claus, Jack Frost, Bernard, or any other canon characters mentioned above. I am making no profit off of this, it is purely for my enjoyment as well as that of the readers. I do, however, own Crystal Springs as well as Jacqueline Frost, Jack's Sister and Legate and their family. Any resemblance they bear to any specific person/place/thing is purely coincidental; please do not use them without MY permission.******

**I also do not own Elle. She belongs to Ana, aka etiquette-faux-pas. I am merely borrowing Ms Connelly and have vowed to return her (relatively) unharmed**

**Lastly, I do not own Daleks, and nor do I want to as they seem wholly unpleasant and seem to have a very limited vocabulary and a like for unnecessary destruction. I also do not own Aurora University and am merely using it as a setting in the story. I have vowed to use the lovely campus, university and facilities in only a good light and only for a few chapters in the middle of the story, as well as mentions in the beginning. (And if you know anyone who goes there, tell them to PM me as I do not go to aurora and am merely basing Charlie's decision on my very extensive research on the school via their official website).**


	4. Chapter Three

**Chapter Three  
><strong>_March 2008_

Things seemed to be going well enough, as it were.

Willow watched (herself concealed) as the shadows converged around the three fairies in the middle of the clearing. They huddled together, the fire fae's hands lit with small, _pathetic_ flames. The other two were petrified; Willow did not sense any bonus magical abilities within them aside from the basic faerie magic. The only one gifted beyond basic fae magic was the one wielding the flames.

A gift like that would be _perfect_ to affirm her control over the shadows.

"Get the fire aligned one," Willow said.

_Of course,_ the leader of the shadows said.

With a few silent commands, the darkness split into half. One group dragged the other two fairies away, screaming for their friend; the other group surrounded the orange fairy. Willow watched as the little thing's flames became smaller and smaller, smirking as the fairy collapsed, crying, huddled in on herself. The darkness come together once more, high, _high_ above the fairy's head, and dove down, down, down, swallowing her whole into the blackness.

Willow grinned. She admired their theatrics; now, it was time to show the shadows who was the boss and begin her complex plan to make the forces of evil dominant once more.

"Is there a place to secure her?"

_Our Sanctuary is a vast maze of tunnels and rooms…we will find a spot. But first, you must hold up your end of the bargain._

"Of course."

_Excellent_, the shadow said, flying in a circle and disappearing on the spot. Willow did the same; in an elegant twirl of blue fire she was gone, reappearing in the mausoleum they had originally made their bargain in. A shadow held the fire fairy tightly, their leader beside them.

_Show us,_ they hissed.

"What-what's going on? Where are my friends?" the fairy asked, quaking in fear. "Let me go!" she shouted, half-heartedly.

"Silly fae," Willow began, "I'm not letting you go. You are the first of many, should all go as planned. Make this a lesson, you pest—you shouldn't go exploring the woods in the dark as small as you were. After all, there is a reason your kind can change their size."

Willow floated around the shadow holding the fairy, the girl looking around frantically as the shadow caused her more and more fearful thoughts. She let the fae squirm, before continuing her speech. "As for your friends…they are not here. They are useless to me; all they are good for is delivering the message of your disappearance to Queen Fae. Our first warning as it were. And as for your first question? Allow me to demonstrate…"

With a phantom grin, Willow started glowing darker, nearly violet in colour; holding out a finger, she touched the fairy. What happened next shocked all of the shadows into silence.

The fairy screamed, Willow's violet glow surrounding her. Willow cackled darkly, taking as much of the fairy's energy as was needed. A small, orange ball of magic followed her finger as she let go of the fae; she fainted, her glow diminishing. Willow grinned, gently moving the ball back and forth with her fingers.

_What did you do…I have never seen anything like this before…_

"As you know shadow, Will-o-the-Wisps have been known to drain the life force of people and absorb their energy; an Incubus can do much the same thing…just by different means. With both of those creatures in my bloodline, the extent in which I can take someone's life force is far more powerful than just either creature by themselves."

_Amazing…_

"Yes. Quite. That's not all, though. Tell me, Shadow, which one of your minions here would like some of this power, before I keep it for myself?"

_Settle down!_ The leader said, the excitement Willow's words had caused the darkness to display instantly quelled. He stared them down, his red eyes causing the others to retreat back.

_Willow, you may pick whomever you please,_ the shadow said.

She grinned. "I may as well make this easy, then; you there," she said, pointing at the shadow who still held the fainted fae. "You caught her and held her down…it is only suiting that you get her power…"

Closing her eyes, Willow suspended the ball of fire magic between her hands; moving them apart, the powers split in half; one half she absorbed into herself. The magic…the energy…it was so _good_ and she felt the fiery power added to her arsenal of magical abilities…grinning maliciously, she threw the other half at the shadow.

He recoiled; clutching the fae tightly as he held his midsection. Smoke billowed out from around him; grinning, the shadow opened his free hand—a flame appeared.

_You have given him the power to wield fire,_ the head shadow said.

"Indeed. And, if I am correct, your natural abilities as darkness personified can very well magnify the little bit I have given you."

The fire shadow grinned, opening his palm wider; the flame grew bigger, engulfing his arm; soon, he was a flaming shadow, laughing darkly.

_This is excellent. Secure the fairy; put her in the catacombs._

A group of shadows grinned and hissed, following the flaming shadow down a dark corridor. Willow frowned.

"Catacombs?"

_I assure you, Willow…the catacombs are very hard to get in—or out of—when you are not one of us boogies. She will be chained in one of the cells; the chances of anyone finding her are slim to none. Now then…you have showed us your power; I speak on behalf of all of my people when I say that we agree to your terms._

"Excellent," Willow said, smirking. "We shall start small—a few of the good creatures; I shall take a portion of their energies and give your shadows powers they never could have dreamed of…and we shall take back what is rightfully ours. Deal?"

The head shadow hissed, fangs glinting in the reflection of Willow's glow signifying a malicious smirk.

_Deal_.

They shook on it. Willow smiled.

Everything was going according to plan.

* * *

><p><em>March 2009<em>

Jacqueline wandered the halls of the workshop, searching out the official meeting room. It was a recent edition to the Pole; naturally, she had no idea where it was in the large innermost corridors of the Workshop. So far she had found a storage room filled with bean cans and vending machines, _another_ storage room dedicated completely to Christmas fragranced candles, and a _whole_ _cupboard_ with that infernal potpourri cinnamon smell that was so widely loved up North.

Now she was in a hallway filled with empty rooms. Straining her ears, she could hear voices drifting down the hall. Excitedly, she sped up, finally locating the proper room and entering quietly.

"Trust me, Peach. We will do everything we can to find Easter, okay?"

"Yes, yes, of course. I know. I just worry—"

"Way too much, momma! No worries! I'm sure dad is okay and I got this! I'm gonna whip those lollygagging workers into shape," Blossom said, grinning maniacally.

"Those lollygagging workers are your siblings!"

"Yeah but they slack way too much and I gotta rectify that."

"Now Blossom" Mother Nature was warning. "Don't go power crazy, okay?"

"I won't. I'll be fine, Mother Nature. Probably definitely maybe fine."

"Blossom, you'll be a great Easter Bunny," Jacqueline said, making her presence known.

"Jacqueline! Sweetheart, when did you get here?" Mother Nature asked, surprised.

"Just a few moments ago. I'm on the prowl for Jack," she said. "I thought he'd be here."

"He was," Peach said. "Then he left to inform Santa of what he missed."

Jacquie nodded. "That's what I heard…I thought he may have come back here."

"He was supposed to; we've kept your father waiting long enough."

Jacqueline laughed, picking up Blossom and scratching the bunny's head. "Please, Grandmother. Blaise is fine waiting, he has Winter."

"A little more to the left," Bunny said.

"That good?"

"Yup."

"How you feeling, Bunny?"

"Good, I guess. Really nervous but like excited nervous like I might puke but—"

"I getchya. You'll be great, Blossom."

"You really think so?"

"I know so."

"Thanks Jacqueline," Blossom said, jumping up and latching onto her arm in a hug.

"You're welcome, Blossom."

"You sure you'll be okay?" Mother Nature asked Peach, as she reached into her apron.

"Now I will be. Easter will show up. For now Blossom and I will take care of everything, I _hope_." Peach pulled out a green bag; reaching in, she grabbed a pinch of green dust and blew it out of her palm. A portal opened up in the ground, the reflection of a lovely Spring-time grotto appearing.

"If you need anything, just give us a call, okay?"

Peach nodded. "Thank you, Mother Nature."

"You're most welcome."

"And if you need a day off Blossom, you know who to call," Jacqueline said, winking.

The bun laughed, hoping off of Jacqueline to join her mom. "Sure do! See ya, Jacqueline! Momma Nature!"

And with a salute, she jumped off the table and tumbled down the hole, Peach shaking her head fondly and hopping in behind her daughter.

The moment the portal closed, Mother Nature sighed heavily and plopped down in a chair.

"Good heavens, that woman is _exhausting_," Mother Nature said.

"Long day?"

"Oh, you don't know the _half_ of it."

"I know like a quarter," Jacqueline said, making to sit beside Mother Nature. "Jack was talkative earlier, but I haven't heard from him since the meeting."

"Came to fetch him?"

"Yeah, his silence is unnerving."

"Mmm. Seeing as how it's late, I think it would be best to take your brother straight home for some rest. I myself am taking a nice long soak in the springs and going to bed for a good twelve hours, thank you very much."

"Will you come by tomorrow to tell dad about what happened? I _doubt_ Jack's gonna chat tonight, and if he does, he'll give dad the half-baked version of it."

"In that case, we'll both confer with him at Town Hall tomorrow."

"Okay. I'll let mom know," Jacqueline said, absent mindedly summoning some snowflakes and playing with them.

"Thank you, Jacqueline dear. As for your brother, after the council meeting, he went off to tell Santa what had happened."

She nodded, the snowflakes poofing as she got up. "Then maybe he's still there. Bernard and Elle said he left Santa's office, though they didn't tell me why."

"Santa was interrupted mid-meeting by Bernard. The snow globe was ringing."

"Snow globe?"

"Oh, you don't know this story, that's right. Well, when this Santa became Santa, he had a kid, a six-year-old at the time—Charlie. Bernard gave him a replica of Santa's special snow globe; his son could use it as a summons for his father."

"Handy," Jacqueline said.

"Indeed. It was going off like you wouldn't believe, according to Bernard, so Santa went to tend to it. I'm not Father Time, but my guess is that Jack left because Charlie arrived. Santa's son isn't a fan of your brother."

"I don't blame him" Jacqueline murmured. "I mean, I love my brother dearly, but I wouldn't be a fan at all if I were in Charlie's shoes—I'm very much still _not_ a fan, to be honest. I have scars that prove it," she finished, winking.

"Oh, Jacqueline. You shouldn't poke fun at old scars like that."

"But that's all they are now, scars. I mean, I can't look back and _laugh_, getting stabbed several times in the stomach by icicles isn't a laughable experience, let me tell you—but Jack is back and we've forgiven him and we're all together now, and to me the _now_ is what's most important."

"You've grown up so well," Mother Nature said, smiling. "Grandmother Gaia would be pleased."

Jacqueline grinned. "Thanks, Grandma. You going to be okay getting back to the Quartz Forest?"

"Of course, don't you worry about me, child. I'm old but not that old, you know. You go find your brother. I'll see you and your family sometime tomorrow."

"Alright. Goodnight, Grandmother Nature."

"Goodnight, Jacqueline."

As the winter sprite left, the matriarch of all of nature smiled to herself, before disappearing in a bright flash of light.

* * *

><p>Santa sat alone at his desk in the main room of his private quarters, sipping his cocoa thoughtfully.<p>

Charlie wanted to be the next Santa. Like, for real. When he was a kid, Santa just thought it was a childhood whim—but his son was very, _very_ serious. He was even molding his education around the job.

And Scott had no idea what to think.

So instead, while Charlie ran around the Workshop, saying hi to the elves and offering assistance where he could, Scott sat with his fifth mug of cocoa, processing the conversation he and Charlie had just had.

A shuffling by the door drew Santa out of his thoughts. Peering in through the crack and knocking gently was none other than Jacqueline Frost, Jack's little sister.

"Jacqueline! Come in! Gosh, sorry, I hope you weren't waiting too long," he said, shooting up from his seat.

"I was only knocking for a minute ish, it's not a problem," she replied, treading carefully into the room. "Oh, no need to get up! S'okay."

Santa smiled, sitting back down and once more hugging his cocoa cup. The white haired sprite seemed very quiet today—granted, it had been a long day and if the North Pole wasn't currently in the middle of a polar night, it would have been very easy to tell how late it was as it was nearing midnight. But with over forty-eight hours of darkness, it made no difference.

"Thanks," he murmured.

Jacqueline shrugged, sitting down across from him, perching on the seat.

"I guess my brother's not here?" she asked, after looking around.

"No. He headed to his room before Charlie arrived. Is he okay?"

"Well, considering the day everyone has had today, he's alright. I came to bring him home, though. He hasn't been answering our connections."

"That can't be good," Santa frowned, adding another worry to his plate.

"Are you okay Santa?"

"I've…I've had a brutal day," he began. "My son came up to tell me he got into his dream University, Aurora."

"Good for him! I've never been to Aurora," Jacquie murmured. "I have gone to a lot of Canadian universities though, and maybe one or two in the states."

Santa raised an eyebrow.

"What? Being immortal gets boring sometimes."

"So you willingly go to school?"

"When the Academy isn't in session, yeah."

_Magical people were so strange_, Santa thought.

"So how come you're so bummed? Getting into post-secondary is a big deal."

"He wants to become Santa."

"Oh."

"Yeah."

"What's so worrisome about that?" Jacquie asked.

"I don't think he knows what he's getting into! This job is heavy, y'know? A lot can go wrong and a lot _does_ go wrong. Half of the year we're behind and somehow we manage to make it in time for the big day! And the stress! Family and business in the same place! One of the reasons I moved our household behind the Workshop instead of inside it, you know?"

"All good reasons," Jacqueline said. "Santa, I think you're having a hard time coming to terms with the fact that your son is growing up."

"Me? No. P_lease_."

Jacqueline raised an eyebrow.

"Okay, maybe a little."

She smirked.

"But it's not just that! He couldn't have chosen a _worse_ time to give me a midlife crisis."

"Santa, it's gonna be okay. You're over worrying about everything. I've never met Charlie and from the accounts I've heard, he doesn't sound like the type of guy I'd make acquaintances with—_don't look at me like that I'm not done yet. _But from what you're telling me now, he sounds like he knows what's up and what he's about, you know?"

"He does have a good head on his shoulders now. Granted, he probably still has a lot of growing to do, but he's smartened up and I'm so proud of him…"

"Then just be proud, Santa," Jacqueline said. "Be proud and live in the moment. Don't worry about the Legends going missing. They're all really smart and will stay safe; us Legates will probably end up helping them a _lot_ soon. Don't worry about being kidnapped yourself, Santa. Look at where you are! This place is undetectable and impenetrable—us winter sprites would _know_. You're safe. Just enjoy the now, Santa. _Trust_ me."

Despite the fact that in Scott's eyes, a teenager had just lectured him about living in the moment, Jacqueline's words held a sense of wisdom beyond her years, any years really. Scott felt himself calming down—reasonably if anyone were to lecture him truthfully about living in the moment, it would most definitely be Jacqueline.

"You know what, you're right," Santa said, chugging his cocoa and slamming the silver cup down. "I gotta loosen up, I'm turning into Bernard."

"Good use of Bernard," the sprite said, laughing.

"I'm gonna take your advice and calm down, and live in the now. I like that. Live in the _now_."

"Good. I'm glad."

"Yeah. Thanks, Jacquie."

"Anytime."

Santa smiled, jolly once more before his face fell and he looked at Jacquie, remembering the reason the sprite was there in the first place.

"Right! Your brother! He left when Charlie arrived. Headed back to his room. Elle told us Bernard was arriving with Charlie, Jack left, and sure enough moments later Charlie was here. Bernard and Elle left for the nighttime rounds after that," Santa mussed.

"For _frosts_ sake," Jacquie exclaimed.

"Huh?"

"I _just_ missed him then!"

"Oh?"

"I arrived up North as Bernard and Elle were cozying up in the hallway towards the workshop."

"Then you did just miss him. He should still be in there, doing whatever it is he does."

"Which will always be a mystery," Jacqueline said. "Thanks Santa. Oh! And before I forget," she mumbled, snapping her fingers—two red envelopes appeared in her hand. She passed them to Santa, smiling.

"These are letters. Already? It's only March!"

"Fino and Fiera like to get ahead of the game and wanna get it right to the top, not the mail department," Jacquie said.

"I like those two kids," Santa replied, snickering.

"Me too. Anyway, have a good night, Santa," she said, casually waving goodbye and leaving the room.

"Night," Santa said, opening the letters.

* * *

><p>Jack was terrified.<p>

The whole day he had been lost in thought, masking his fear with cockiness and self-assuredly, when in reality he couldn't have felt more opposite his usual self.

Legendaries were going missing. And the darkness taking the Legendaries had been kidnapping magical beings for nearly a year—they had upped their game.

And now, the Council believed that something—someone else was controlling their leader.

The shadows had allied with another being of some sort, a being who clearly had high hopes and even higher expectations for themselves, and the fact that now Legends were in trouble?

Jack would be soiling his pants if he wasn't as mature and sophisticated as he thought himself to be.

His mind had been occupied all night and as a result, he had elected to stay hidden in his dark room and let the thoughts boil over instead of heading back home with Mother Nature to update Blaise on the situation.

He may have also _maybe_ begun ignoring Winter and Jacqueline's mental links with him as the day wore on.

He just didn't want anyone to know how afraid he was—he was Jack Frost! He proclaimed to fear nothing and he shouldn't, really—but he was. Jack was sure his ignorance of the women of the family would come back to bite him in the butt very soon, but for the time being he was better off alone.

A knocking on his door woke him out of his stupor.

"Hey, Frosty, you in there? Open up!"

Jack sighed. Bite in the butt was an understatement, Jacqueline did _not _sound pleased.

"Hey, Slushy," he said, dissolute.

"Oh my gods you sound like crap."

"Thanks."

"You okay Jack?"

"Well…"

The door clicked open, Jacqueline sliding into the room quietly, closing the door gently behind her. She stared at her brother—crap was an understatement. He looked like _death_. His clothes were disheveled, icicle bolo tie loosened, vest unbuttoned, suit jacket thrown haphazardly on the floor—already out of character for neat and pristine Jack. His spikey, frozen hair seemed droopy, his light blue eyes dull, a weary expression on his face. A cup of tea—_tea_ of all the things Jack ever drank, a straight up tell to Jacqueline that Jack was feeling down in the dumps—sat forgotten on a saucer, his cold, pale hand clutching it anyway.

"Jack," she said softly, carefully; concern in her face. Jack could've sworn his little sister looked _just like his mother_ in that moment.

"Hey sis," he said, smiling—a Winter smile from long ago; one that didn't reach his eyes.

"You okay, bro-bro?" she asked timidly, gently seating herself on a settee by his side.

"You know, I think I've had better days."

"I think so, too."

They were quiet for a bit, Jacqueline gently prying the saucer and cup from her brother's hand and placing it down on the coffee table gently.

"Wanna talk about it?" she pried.

He paused, thoughtful. "Yeah. I guess."

"Then why have you been hiding all day?" Jacqueline asked, a small smile gracing her face, a frozen eyebrow raised.

"I didn't want to worry you or Mother. But I suppose I went about it the wrong way," he said, smiling slightly.

"Heck yeah you did. C'mon, Frosty. Tell me about the meeting."

"Easter Bunny is gone."

"I found that one out," Jacquie said. "Blossom and Peach just left; Grandma too. She said she'd come by tomorrow to talk to Blaise and she expects you to be there, too."

"I will. I will."

"Keep talking to me, Jack," his Legate said, after another long silence.

"The same darkness that's been taking the nymphs and fae and the witches and all the magical creatures and beings you could think of, took EB."

"It's getting more powerful."

"Either that or more cocky," Jack said. "Now it feels as though all of us Legends are at risk. A Legate stepping in…this hasn't happened in years."

"Welll…" Jacquie began.

"Well, aside from you during the Deliquesce. And while I was…"

"Tyrannically ruling the North Pole."

"Yup. But that technically didn't happen," Jack said.

"Gods, I hate timelines," Jacquie added.

"Tell me about it, ugh. Anyway, what I meant by Legates stepping in is that it's never before been enforced because of this reason—a Legend actually going missing. Not since the ages of the Plague," Jack said.

"The reason for the Legate Law. I know. Wow. Heavy stuff, isn't it?"

Jack nodded.

Silence reigned once more, both sprites lost in thought.

"Jacqueline…I'm afraid," Jack said, ceasing his infernal beating around the bush. "I'm so, so afraid the darkness will get Santa or Grandmother…or me."

"It's a reasonable fear," Jacqueline ventured, slowly and quietly.

"I know. I just don't like _being_ so afraid. What do we do? How do we proceed? All we know is that the darkness may have allied with another creature. Blossom and Peach's accounts were just like the others."

"Drat it," Jacqueline mumbled. "For serious?"

"For serious, I'm afraid."

"Well, you know Jack…you can't let that stop you from reaching out," Jacqueline began, moving from the settee to the armrest of Jack's seat. "Just because something is out to get you and all the other Legends, doesn't mean you should hide up and hope not to be caught. That would just be giving them exactly what they want."

"Maybe…but we don't even know what they really want!"

"And I'm sure you'll find out," Jacqueline continued. "You shouldn't hide and let the darkness eat away at your brains, Jack. You have places to go and people who care about you who want you to talk to them. Like me. It's why I came all the way up North in March."

"Thanks for that," Jack said, a small smile on his face.

"I know it seems like there's a lot going on right now, and it is really overwhelming—heck, even I'm scared. Legates stepping in is a strange concept, really—but we're not gonna let the shadows get you or anyone you love. I won't let anything take my brother away from me, not when I just got him back."

"Do you really mean that?"

The sprite blushed, nodding. "Even if he is an overdramatic snowdiva with a terrible habit of worrying about everything a little too much," she said.

Jack laughed. "Thanks."

"Anytime," his sister replied, standing up and grabbing his jacket off the floor. She folded it over her arm, holding it tightly and surveying her brother, choosing her words carefully before she continued. "You shouldn't worry so much about being taken, Jack. The Council is resourceful; I know you will all be fine, and someone will figure out a way to proceed with this problemo soon. Someone always does."

"I guess you're right," Jack sighed.

"Now c'mon, Jack. This room is dark and lonely and kinda gloomy. Let's go home, okay?" Jacqueline asked, her hand outstretched.

Jack smiled. "Yeah. Let's head home."

* * *

><p><strong>AN-Another update! Mostly filler, actually. The next one will be filler as well, when I finish it-I've caught up to what I already had written :p. Lotsa feels, we also see how Jack and Jacqueline have grown closer since the events of Crystal Springs, how the first Legate to step in for a Legend feels, and how terrified everyone really is. Charlie really does have bad timing, doesn't he?**

**I had a lot of fun writing this chapter, actually. Especially Jack and Jacquie's scene. Remember, if you ever feel down in the dumps or yucky, talk to someone, reach out! It might just help :D**

**Anywho, updates to TTYoF and Smile Shorts will be forthcoming; Dark Shadows will now be updating bi-weekly, until I get as far in it as I was with Crystal Springs. I hope you enjoy this chapter and another look at our villainess ;)**

**Now I leave you with disclaimers and then that lovely white box to tell me how you;re doing, how I'm doing, favourite parts, least favourite parts, fangirling and etcetra, etcetra. Until the next update, friends! Adieu!**

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><p><strong>DISCLAIMERS<strong>

**I do not own _The Santa Clause_, nor do I own Charlie Calvin, Scott Calvin/Santa Claus, Jack Frost, Bernard, or any other canon characters mentioned above. I am making no profit off of this, it is purely for my enjoyment as well as that of the readers. I do, however, own Crystal Springs as well as Jacqueline Frost, Jack's Sister/Legate, their family (Blaise, Winter, Fino and Fiera Frost), and EB's family, Peach Bunny and Blossom Bunny. Any resemblance they bear to any specific person/place/thing is purely coincidental; please do not use them without MY permission.**

**I also do not own Elle. She belongs to Ana, aka etiquette-faux-pas. I am merely borrowing Ms Connelly and have vowed to return her (relatively) unharmed.**

**Lastly, I do not own Aurora University and am merely using it as a setting in the story. I have vowed to use the lovely campus, university and facilities in only a good light and only for a few chapters in the middle of the story, as well as mentions in the beginning. (And if you know anyone who goes there, tell them to PM me as I do not go to Aurora and am merely basing Charlie's decision on my very extensive research on the school via their official website).**


	5. Chapter Four

**Chapter Four  
><strong>_August 2008_

Willow lounged in her own personal "room" of sorts the Shadows had given to her upon their recent successes. It was small but all she needed, really. A desk, a chair, and bed-esque thing... (she didn't need sleep but when dealing with demons who dispensed fear and nightmares, sleep was natural to them of course). Spread out around her were her own notes with dates ranging from when they began their uprising (as Willow had dubbed it) in April to now.

They had taken many fairies of all the different faerie partitions. Thanks to this, a good portion of the Shadow Leader's people had elemental based powers—small bits, of course. Willow was cunning enough to give them just enough to wield potential harm to those she had in mind to seize next, keeping the majority of it for herself.

As a Will-O-the-Wisp, Willow fed on energy to keep her sustained and burning bright. With enough, she could take a humanoid form—shrouded in her blue fire, of course (Humans were ugly and she much preferred her flames, thank you very much). Never in her life had Willow had this much energy at her disposal and she loved _every moment of it. _

_Miss Willow…_

"Hello Erebus. To what do I owe this disturbance?"

_My Shadows and I would like a word._

She raised an eyebrow. "Then _use_ them."

_It's been months and we've captured plenty fae and their kin. Our message is slowly spreading. But it's been a while since we've continued. Tell us, wisp—what are we to do next?_

"Erebus," she said, floating off of her chair and drifting to the shadow leader's side. She circled him, eyeing him and the others carefully. The shadow leader stood silent, his form flickering and the darkness around him shifting.

"Let's have a little pop quiz, shall we? Name me the leaders of the different magical factions in this world."

_There is Queen Fae of the Faerie populous…Empress Marilla of the Undersea Creatures…Faun of the Woodland Folk…Cheri the Dark and her sister, Glenda the Light, leaders of the Witching Covens of the Darkness and Light, respectively. There is Blaise Frost of the Warlocks and General Magical Populous, and Mother Nature of the Sprites, Seasons and Legendaries. Now what does this "pop quiz" of yours have to do with any of our concerns?_

"We have taken a decent portion of the fae populous, you'll have noticed. And what has happened, as a result of this?"

Erebus smirked, a nasty cut in his dark mass that would make any child flinch. _Queen Fae has grown enraged, her people fearful…she has alerted the others. We are being noticed._

"Correct. Now as I'm sure you've also noted, there has been a spike in fear recently…"

_Yes,_ he hissed._ It's delicious; our numbers are growing, our nightmares very slowly gaining in strength. Nowhere near the wonderful, wonderful Dark Ages, unfortunately._

"Not this early in our little game, no," said Willow. "That spike in fear is a direct result of our small, tedious work. Capturing all those pesky fairies. It is quite unfortunate that they can grow in size, unlike their dearly departed Pixie brethren."

_The spike of fear though…it grows stronger. I can pinpoint the origins…_

"And if I'm not mistaken, you'll find that it is none other than Empress Marilla and Faun who are the main source."

_You're quite right…it's delectable…_

"The Fae of the waters and of the earth and forest are closely related to the factions Marilla and Faun heed, magical ability wise. Logically, our next step would be to start targeting their subjects. Mermaids and sirens, centaurs and nymphs…take them, bring them here, and spread more fear."

_Queen Fae will know it is not personal; all of the Assembly will know that we are powerful…our numbers growing…_

"They will begin to realize we are no longer content with staying in the dark. We will spread our fear to all ends! We are not a joke, we are no longer a minor threat content with our three days of fear. No, we will show them we mean business."

_Excellent…we are appeased with your plan, Miss Willow. We will wait for your commands…_

With a few hisses to his subjects, the darkness dispersed, leaving Willow to her thoughts once more.

She smirked to herself, the darkness around her excitedly waiting for their next move.

They _were_ being noticed.

Everything was right on track.

* * *

><p><em>March 2009<em>

Charlie left the workshop three hours later, unsure of the actual time because of the whole twenty-four hours of darkness thing going on when he arrived. He assumed it was early in the morning, though; after all, he had gotten quite carried away in the workshop.

Quentin had been supervising the night shift and had shown him a bunch of new improvements to the sleigh, the machinery—half of which ideas they had come up with together. Larry had taken him to the other sections of the workshop and shown him a bunch of new toys set to be released this coming Christmas season. Kasper, a nervous elf who had been a pawn in a terrible villains plot a few years back now worked in the ever growing electronics department and caught Charlie on his way out, asking him if he wanted to battle on the newest Pokémon game. And really, was that even a question? It wasn't even in stores yet!

So now, after an hour of Pokémon with Kasper and several more hours taking in the workshop and new things, Charlie finally had the good sense to head out and go to bed because it had been a long _exciting_ day for him.

And he had a lot to think about, too—new thrusters on the sleigh, slowly switching over to LED lights (energy efficient workshop was the best kind of workshop to him), how he was gonna beat the Elite Four and the weird mood he had begun to notice over his home (because the North Pole was his home—becoming Santa had made his dad a better person and all of Charlie's fondest memories—sans the Danielle related ones—had happened here).

He hadn't pried because he figured if it was important he'd find out, but Charlie had noticed this aura of fear and unease settling around the Pole, the elves; even Bernard! Not to mention, Charlie's dad seemed jumpy.

It was like everyone was walking on eggshells or something. Charlie had asked Kasper while they played, and though he was usually in the know (he knew quite a few elves as he had been shoved from department to department until his placement in the Electronics division), Kasper hadn't offered any solution.

"What do you mean, t-t-tense?" the elf had asked, his nervous stutter appearing.

"Oh, no need to get nervous, Kasper! I was just curious because it seems like everyone is edgy and worried about something—and it isn't even November yet."

Kasper had laughed loudly and out of place. "You know us elves! Working hard! I haven't h-heard anything that would cause s-such a strange mood."

"Normally you know these things."

The elf had shrugged, eyes locked on his DS. "I g-guess it hasn't r-reached my a-area yet."

"Alright," Charlie had said wearily, his eyes back on the screen.

But he still felt like Kasper maybe knew something.

Charlie decided to ask Bernard in the morning, and if he played dumb turn to Elle and if she did too, _then_ he'd go to his dad. Maybe. Continuing his walk with a thoughtful frown, his forehead wrinkled. What could it be, what could it _be_…there was literally nothing Charlie could think of that would cause such a weird feeling up North. As he rounded the corner outside on his way to the Claus residence, he stopped suddenly—voices echoed through the corridor, two long shadows cast on the wall. People were approaching, and _fast_.

"…nobody knows a thing, though!" said a familiar male voice.

"…still trying to figure things out, Jack. You know as well as I do that everything will work out…" a soft female voice said, one Charlie didn't recognize.

He waited until the voices grew louder and the figures rounded the corner. Like he had guessed, there was Jack Frost, snooping around the Pole as usual. Charlie had seen him defrost, watched his little sister hug the troublemaker until the ice cracked and he looked nearly normal! And he had heard about Jack's help with the whole Pole melting thing, and the huge fight that had happened between members of Jack's family. His Dad had explained it to him but it was all really confusing and didn't help to alleviate Charlie's suspicions about Jack at all—that he wasn't totally good like everyone thought he was.

And sure, Charlie liked to give people chances but he could hold a grudge. And if someone freezing his mom and step-dad, upstaging his dad and taking over the Pole, turning it into a theme park (from what he had heard, as he didn't remember this timeline at all) wasn't a grudge causer, then he didn't know what was.

Beside Jack was a girl who looked to be in her late teens, and was done up just as fancy as Jack was. She wore a long frozen dress, same colour as his suit (maybe a tad lighter), with long sleeves draping down from a little puff at the shoulders to a wide bottom at her wrists. The top portion of her dress looked very similar to icicles, a sheer bit of material covering what the neckline of the dress didn't. While Jack's hair was frozen blue, the girl's hair was frozen as well but more towards white than blue. (Not old person white, Charlie noted, but a nice white as snow white).

The pair Charlie saw who were in fact Jack and Jacqueline were making their way to a more sparse area to teleport home, discussing the darkness quietly—or so they thought. As they rounded the corner, Jack stopped short, his sister slamming right into him.

"What the frost, Jack? Town Square is that way!"

"We should take another way," he whispered.

"Why?"

"Because…" He glanced towards Charlie and back at Jacqueline, hoping she'd get the message.

"Oh, that's Santa's son?"

"Yes…maybe he hasn't noticed us?"

"No, he definitely has," Jacquie said, tilting her head towards Charlie's place. Sure enough, he was staring at them, a quizzical look in his eyes.

"Alright Jacqueline, follow my lead and play it cool."

"What?"

"Hello, Charlie! How's it—what-what's up?"

"I didn't know you were here," said Charlie, eyes narrowing.

_He doesn't know about the kidnappings and stuff, make something up!_ Jacqueline's voice shouted in Jack's mind.

_Shouldn't Santa tell him?_

_He doesn't want too._

_Alright, whatever cookie monster says…_

"I was in the neighbourhood, dropped by for some cocoa and cookies and frosty cheer! Just leaving now, don't mind us," Jack said in a rush, slowly walking backwards and shoving Jacqueline back the way they came. "Au revoir, Charlie! Nice chatting with you!" Jack said and, with a very over the top wave, he grabbed his sister's arm and whisked her away.

"That was so far from cool, _my_ grandkids will feel the second hand embarrassment you gave me."

"Ouch," he said, feigning hurt (and also slightly offended).

"Truth hurts."

"I thought I did fine."

"Hey, whatever helps you sleep at night. I guess we're taking the long way to town then?"

"Yup."

"All to avoid a kid who doesn't like you?"

"Yup."

"Seriously?"

"Any better ideas?"

"Several."

"Well you most certainly weren't offering them up!"

"You never asked! And besides, you seemed hard at work thinking up an excuse," she said, finally ripping her arm out of Jack's grip and walking at her own pace. "Didn't want to interrupt the _master of chill_."

"Sarcasm is very unbecoming, you know."

Jacqueline grinned, stopping in the center of the square beside her brother.

"Follow my lead and keep it cool," she mocked.

"Oh, shut it," he said, grinning nonetheless.

"In your dreams," she replied, the frosty duo and their banter disappearing in a flurry of snowflakes and blue sparks.

* * *

><p><em>That was suspicious,<em> Charlie thought. Like, _really_ suspicious. And super weird, too.

He considered following Jack and the girl he was with—maybe his daughter? They looked alike and hey, he seemed to be dad age. After thinking of his cozy bed at his dad's house, though, Charlie decided against it and decided to add Jack sneaking around the Pole at three am to his list of things to ask dad about in the morning.

Was Jack planning something? Maybe that's why everyone was so tense around here.

_Or maybe you're just tired enough to start thinking up conspiracy theories_, Charlie thought.

"I should go to bed," he mused out loud, gently opening the doors to the private quarters (he hadn't even realized he started walking again) and sliding in.

The living space was clear, Buddy's play area cleaned up. Charlie strained his ears—he could hear the gentle snores coming from his dad—so everyone was asleep. With a yawn and a look at the grandfather clock in the hallway—four am, holy shit—Charlie made his way to his room at the back and plopped down on the comfortable bed, clothes and all.

Barely conscious, Charlie made a mental list of things to do in the morning: ask his dad about Jack, figure out why everyone in the Pole was on edge, and ask his dad about move-in day in August.

Needless to say, as he fell asleep going over and over the list, Charlie had some weird ass dreams that night.

* * *

><p><em>December 2008<em>

The sounds of celebration were loud within the mausoleum.

Willow smirked, drifting amongst the shadows—over three quarters of the army now possessed factions of powers from numerous magical beings who had been taken by the darkness. Fear was rapidly growing; the shadows seemed to multiply with every passing day. In fact, with all the growth Willow nearly found herself unable to keep up with the request for the powers of the others. Thankfully, with more numbers they were able to meet the demand.

Over fifty faeries, nearly five of each woodland creature, a nymph or two, some centaurs, a mermaid or two, and more than two of quite a few other magical creatures and beings were trapped in the catacombs, lost in fear and their energies drained. The newest acquisitions to their labyrinth had just been taken today, in fact—four witches. Two light, two dark. It was quite the feat but once the challenge was presented to Willow, she couldn't resist.

To be quite honest Willow had found herself deviating from her initial plan. It was still her main priority—spread darkness, show the world that the shadiest of creatures were fearful, and do this by any means possible—even if it meant starting a new Dark Age. There was now a secondary aim, Willow had found. She had started to begin to…_like_ the capture. She enjoyed the challenge each creature presented, the higher up the power scale they went.

Willow was having _fun_.

And that was perhaps even scarier than anything they had done yet.

_Willow_…

"Erebus," Willow replied, twirling to face the shadow leader. "What can I do for you?"

_The shadows and I have a bone to pick with you…_

"Oh? And what pray tell is this bone? Are you not enjoying your newfound powers?"

Erebus, as the Shadow's leader, had been waiting for the right creature's power to claim as his own. With the capture of the witches, Erebus had chosen—he wanted both of the dark witches' powers. Willow had granted the request, taking the powers of the good witches and keeping them all for herself. Their leader finally gaining his own powers was the cause for all the commotion—they were celebrating.

_Of course I am! No Willow, this is not about my newfound powers,_ Erebus said, a feral grin in his mass as he summoned dark fires and spawned the most disgusting bugs anyone had ever seen. _I can do much with these powers…_

"Good," said Willow. "Than what is it that you must talk to me about?"

_We are growing stronger. We have been gathering many good creatures and taking their energy…and we are doing quite a bit for you, Willow._

"If this is a matter of me doing something for _you_ in return, look around!" she said, gesturing to the shadows around them. Flames flew about, water splashing some shadows in midair. Willow dodged a few boulders that flew by, and burnt a vine that slowly crept up her transparent leg.

_I love this, Willow. We all do. But what I think—and of course _my_ shadows agree with me—what I believe is that we should go higher._

Willow stopped her floating, her interest titillated. "Oh?"

_You are willing to listen?_

"Proceed, if you please."

_There is so much fear now because of you, Willow. Our shadows have never been this many, this plentiful…we could spread infinite darkness and fear if we wanted to, plunge the world into a new age of chaos and darkness where we boogies, we demons we spirits—we creatures of evil would once more dominate. However, there is one thing that stands in our way…_

"And you'd like to get rid of that thing, correct?"

_Precisely… _

"Now what is this thing that stands in your way?"

_Not so much a thing as it is a person…the Sandman, specifically._

"Ah," Willow said in understanding. "A Legendary Figure, of course."

_It is doable, I believe. We captured four witches today—the Coven has always been protective and hard to break but we overcame even the darkest of sorcerers! Cheri the Dark is livid and it is brilliant. We could get to the Legendary Figures easily now, Willow._

Willow thought about Erebus' idea. He did have a point—they had managed to capture four witches at once. And the challenge this presented to Willow…

_What do you say, Willow?_

"If we were to undergo this feat, this quest of sorts…we'd have to be careful. Plan every move. Start small. Work our way up to Sandman…"

_How so?_

"We start with what you do best—shadowing. We figure out the best way to get in, spread fear, and get out. Then, we start taking. We'll experiment."

_Work our way up to Sandman? _

"Precisely. From the least to most powerful Legendary Figures—Easter Bunny, Tooth Fairy, then Cupid. And if those three are successes, we go after Sandman."

_Wouldn't Santa Claus be next?_

"Under normal circumstances, I'd put him right before Sandman; then Jack Frost, then a tie up between Mother Nature and Father Time. Claus may not be powerful but he has reputation. His dwelling is nearly impenetrable; we must take the one who protects the Dome first before we get to Claus."

_I see…the more fear we have, the easier it would be to get into the Pole, yes?_

"Yes. And if we take away the "best friend" the whole Pole will be in fear. Easier for us to get there. Hence the messy order." Willow paused for a bit, plans forming in her mind.

"You know what Erebus, I'll do it. I'll help you and your shadows amass enough power to get to Sandman."

_Excellent!_ The shadow hissed gleefully.

"Indeed. We shall start our plans tonight, and we shall go in my order specifically."

_Of course._

"Excellent. Spread the news! Come the New Year, the Legendary Figures will be ours; finally fear will conquer once more!"

Hissing, Erebus dove into the crowds, spreading the news. Willow watched the shadows reactions as the news spread, and smirked.

"Oh how I do so _love_ a challenge," she said.

* * *

><p><em>March 2009<em>

Mother Nature arrived back in her Garden to find a pleasant surprise—her daughter, Spring, awaiting her return home in the green house that served as a sitting area.

"Spring. What a surprise."

The red headed sprite smiled, her green eyes happy. She hopped off of the table she had perched on and gave her mother a hug, bouncing to the couch across from where Mother Nature took her seat.

"Hi Mother! I hope my visit isn't _too_ surprising, if you're busy and tired…I know it's been a super long day for you," she said, her hands clasped together in the lap of her leafy green tunic.

"I always have time for my daughters," Mother Nature said, weary. "What can I do for you, Spring?"

"I heard about Easter Bunny," Spring said.

"News travels quickly then."

Spring nodded, bouncing into the adjacent kitchen green house and coming out with a pot of tea and two cups. She poured two, handing one to Mother Nature.

"Thank you, dear."

"You're welcome, Mother."

Spring let her Mother sip her tea, before continuing in her usual bubbly way.

"It isn't so much that news travels fast, but more so that Blossom Bunny is a Legate. Like myself. And she's really just a child and children do love to talk so of _course_ I heard about her stepping up as soon as possible. It didn't take much longer to put two and two together."

Mother Nature sighed; she knew where this was going.

"Spring, please. It isn't a problem yet; nothing serious."

"Nothing serious?" Spring said, her normal bubbly attitude disappearing, her serious side taking over. "Mother, Easter Bunny is _gone_, just like the others! A _Legendary Figure _is_ gone_! One of _my _Legates has stepped in! I think it's about time we called this a serious issue."

"I understand, Spring. It is a bit of a serious problem—oh, don't give me that look. You're right, it's a _huge_ problem. And no, I'm not disillusioning myself or whatever Autumn has called it by now, as I'm sure you've visited your sisters already."

Spring looked away, only a smidge guilty. "Not _all_ of them…gods only know where Summer is."

Mother Nature smiled—she knew Spring well. She sipped her tea, waiting for the rest of the storm to pass.

"I just think that since a Legate has stepped in it may be a wise idea to call a Summit, Mother."

_And there it was_, she thought.

"Spring, if word gets out that you've called a Legate Summit, everyone will speculate and you know how those three old Fates are! Rumours will spread and an uproar of fear will follow it! It's best we don't host a Summit Spring dear. _Surely_ you can see that."

Spring huffed, getting up and staring out the windows at the Gardens.

"Come on now, don't pout. I'm not saying it's a bad idea…but as of right now, it probably isn't a _good_ one."

"So you're impartial?" Spring inquired, her back still towards her Mother.

"Leaning more towards _no_. And _no_ unsanctioned events either, Spring," she warned.

"Unsanctioned? Mother, you wound me. Do I look like Summer to you?" Spring said, glancing at her mother.

"Not in the least bit. You do have your moments though, Spring."

"Fine then, I won't call a Summit," Spring said, staring out the window.

"Thank you," Mother Nature said, relieved. "We probably will have to call one shortly, just not this second, okay?"

"Yeah, sure Mom," Spring said, her mind whirring already. She only felt a little guilty, sitting down with her Mother and helping herself to some dessert. Because Mother Nature was right; Spring _did_ have her moments.

And it was high time the Legates conferred.

* * *

><p><strong>AN-Boy are you guys in for a treat next week! You've already met three of the Legates-Jacqueline, Spring and Blossom-and if you've read WinterFrost15's story _Frost and Fire_ and it's sequel, _Age of the Inferno_ (let me know if I scuppered up the title, dear), you've kind of met the other Legates-well, WF15's lovely rendition of them. Needless to say, come next Chapter you'll meet _all_ the Legates and it's gonna be rad :D. ****Which does remind me, I have to thank WF15 because her story kind of helped me establish all the Legates a wee bit, so thanks dearie!**

**Also! As the story progresses, you can expect a wee bit of swearing on Charlie's end, as well as the Legates in future chapters. Not punny swear words, but actual swear words people. I'm talking f-bombs, shit, crap, bitch...those are the only ones, really. I don't like to use sexual derogetory words or severely bad profanities, nor do I pull the finger because honestly the finger is stupid. "Oh look it's my middle finger I am waving it in your general direction what are you gonna do about that" like, seriously? And you _don't_ want to know what it meant in ancient times. Trust me. (Unless you do in which case I'd be happy to let you know via PM though you will probably be forever changed). Moral of the story: if those listed swear words make you uncomfortable let me know, and I will put a warning on top of chapters that use said swears so you can be aware. :)**

**Anywho it is late and I must shower because dis hair probably has the same amount of grease as a pile of fries fresh out of the deep fryer. I'll be hearing from you all, I hope! And if you read _Frostmas_, you'll be happy to know that it is now also on a bi-weekly update schedule! So the weeks _Dark Shadows_ doesn't update, _The __Twelve Years of Frostmas _shall! Year Three was _quite_ the dossie.**

**Anywho, there's the disclaimers and that white box that is open and craving your feels, thoughts, fave parts, critiques, and spelling/grammar typos you noticed while reading! You all have a lovely weekend!**

* * *

><p><strong>DISCLAIMERS<strong>

**I do not own _The Santa Clause_, nor do I own Charlie Calvin, Scott Calvin/Santa Claus, Jack Frost, Bernard, Mother Nature, or any other canon characters mentioned above. I am making no profit off of this, it is purely for my enjoyment as well as that of the readers. I do, however, own Crystal Springs as well as Jacqueline Frost, Jack's Sister/Legate, their family (Blaise, Winter, Fino and Fiera Frost), Spring, Willow, the Legates, and the Assembly (leaders of the magical factions, with the exception of Mother Nature who is canon). Any resemblance they bear to any specific person/place/thing is purely coincidental; please do not use them without MY permission.**

**I also do not own Elle. She belongs to Ana, aka etiquette-faux-pas. I am merely borrowing Ms Connelly and have vowed to return her (relatively) unharmed.**

**Lastly, I do not own Aurora University and am merely using it as a setting in the story. I have vowed to use the lovely campus, university and facilities in only a good light and only for a few chapters in the middle of the story, as well as mentions in the beginning. (And if you know anyone who goes there, tell them to PM me as I do not go to Aurora and am merely basing Charlie's decision on my very extensive research on the school via their official website).**


	6. Chapter Five

**Chapter Five  
><strong>_March 2009_

When Spring finally left the Quartz Forest and reached her Meadow, she too was in for a surprise. Upon entering her lovely cottage and heading up to the very tippy top of the cottage in the trees, she was met with a few of her faerie helpers. In the cozy, flowery sitting room floated two—an earth faerie and a plant faerie.

"Daisy! Dimitri! This is quite the surprise."

"Your Springlyness," said Dimitri, bowing.

"How did your meeting with Mother Nature go?" Daisy asked, manners aside.

"Terrible!" Spring exclaimed, plopping down on one of the wicker couches, the two faeries taking this as a cue to land, grow to a human size and sit with her.

"Did we get clearance for a Summit?"

"She said no to a Summit because it would spread "unnecessary fear" and make it easier for the dark forces to spread _actual_ fear."

"So no Summit?" Dimitri asked.

"Yes Summit," Spring replied.

"Wait, what?" Asked Daisy, confused.

"We're doing a secretive Summit." Dimitri realized.

"Exactly," Spring said, sitting up straighter on the couch. "I'll need both of you to help me. We need to get the word out to all of the other Legates _without_ the Legendaries knowing about it."

"What's your plan?" Dimitri asked, Daisy fluttering above her seat eagerly.

"I'll contact Day and Night, then my niece. Daisy, you go tell Myles and Olivia. Then you go find Blossom and tell her. But be aware, Easter Bunny has gone missing. Mother Nature confirmed it; so now Blossom's the Easter Bunny and she may be busy."

"Got it," Daisy said, shrinking and waiting for Dimitri's task to be assigned before they left.

"Dimitri, you tell Xander and Aphrodite. Should be easy enough, I think. If it takes too long to get to the Pantheon then let us know. I can send Jacqueline or one of the others."

"Of course. And what time will this be at?" Dimitri asked, shrinking in size and fluttering beside Daisy.

"Exactly twelve noon tomorrow, here in the Meadow. There, Day and Night know. Two down, six to go."

"You're short one," Daisy murmured.

"I already know about the meeting, I don't need to tell myself, silly. Now go on, the two of you—we have some espionage to commit."

"Aye-aye, chief!" Daisy said, fluttering off.

"I don't believe you used the word espionage right, but no matter. We'll be back, your Blossomyness."

"As soon as we can, Spring!"

With a nod, the two faeries left, flying out the window in opposite directions. Wrong word or no, there was still much to do in preparation for the Summit—the first in over a decade or two.

"This should be fun," Spring thought out loud, disappearing in a cloud of green sparks and petals.

* * *

><p>Spring had only been in her niece's sitting room twice, her room once. She knew the layout of the rooms—after all, Frost Mansion was Blaise and Winter's pride and joy; after they wed and began to build it, the two had enlisted the help of Spring, as well as Winter's other two sisters, Summer and Autumn.<p>

So, when she closed her eyes and tried to picture Jacqueline's sitting room and felt herself dematerialize, she wasn't too surprised when she completely missed the seat she wanted by several inches and landed right on her butt with a slight "ouf".

"Oh my _gods_ Aunt Spring, are you okay?"

"I've had worse of a tumble many times before," Spring said, taking the pale hand Jacqueline offered. The red-headed sprite sprang up, dusting stray petals off of her dress and hugging her niece tightly.

Jacqueline hugged back, a curious smile on her face. "What brings you to my room, Aunt Spring?" She asked.

"Official Legate stuff, actually. Um, are your mother and brother around?"

"Nope. Everyone's in bed. Jack and I just got back from the Pole about an hour or two ago, I think. We talked to Blaise and Winter a bit then they headed to bed, once they knew we were home safe and how Jack was doing."

"Right, the council meeting. How _is_ your brother doing?" Spring asked, sitting in the chair she had intended to land in—it was now several inches to the left, a settee beside it. _Should've accounted for furniture moving,_ Spring thought.

Jacqueline sighed, sitting down on the settee beside her Aunt. "About as bad as everyone else, maybe worse. He's petrified. We all are. He passed out as soon as he got into bed. Don't worry about waking him, nothing short of the apocalypse could rouse that man."

"Good, good. Because he and your mother cannot know about what I'm about to say under _any _circumstances." Spring paused, staring at Jacqueline as if she had only just noticed her. "Why are you still up? It's near six in the morning! Have you gotten _any_ sleep?"

Jacqueline shrugged. "Couldn't really sleep. I'm not tired, more so physically exhausted. My mind is a mess. Why the secrecy Aunt Spring?"

"We're having an unsanctioned Summit."

"Unsanctioned?"

"I talked to Mother today asking if I could convene the Legates since one of us has _already_ stepped in. Of course, she refused!"

"Doesn't wanna spread more fear around the city than there already is, I'll bet."

"Exactly! But the other Legates need to know about what's happening! If we can prevent anymore Legends from going missing at all, we need to be aware. I have Dimitri and Daisy letting the others know. Day and Night already know. Well, they should… I said it out loud and it's set in stone, they'll see it in the time stream and appear. I've set it for noon tomorrow—oh puddles, I didn't even think to make sure that time works for everyone!"

"It works for me. Grandmother's meeting with Blaise in the late afternoon. He, Mom and Jack will be distracted; I can make it back without being noticed. And if anyone asks, I'll tell them I'm visiting Elle, she'll be sneaky with me," Jacqueline mussed.

"Perfect. Dimitri is set to tell Xander and Aphrodite, but I told him if he couldn't make it up to the Pantheon I'd send you."

"Lovely, it's been a while since I've seen my favourite ninny."

"You're okay with getting the message to her if need be?"

"Of course. And if you need me to help you any other way, I'd be more than happy to. It's been decades since the last Summit."

Spring grinned, bouncing up. "Exactly. We're well overdue for a Summit. After all, the Council meets at least six times a year."

Jacqueline nodded, standing up with her Aunt. "I'll see you tomorrow?"

"Let's hope so. I'll be off now, got a lot of preparation to do. I'll send Dimitri here if I need you to visit Aphrodite. Adieu, Jacqueline sweetie! And sorry about the petals," Spring said, disappearing in a cloud of said petals and green sparks.

Jacqueline sighed, staring down at the petals left behind. With a wave of her hand, a north wind brought them up; a small breath of frosty air out of her mouth, and the petals froze solid. Grinning, she used the little bit of ancient warlock magic her father's side had left them with (though she wasn't quite proficient in it at all—after all, it was only a quarter of her bloodline) to summon some fish wire, directing it through the frozen petals and to the ceiling. The new piece of art dangled beautifully. Grinning at her handy work (and quick cleanup solution to keep Aunt Spring's visit a secret), Jacqueline made herself comfortable and awaited her possible orders.

Tomorrow afternoon would be _quite_ interesting.

* * *

><p>Daisy flew through the forest at break neck speeds, searching for Myles and his little maybe-fairy friend Olivia. She had gone to Tooth's Palace, sneaking about; one of the birds that helped Tooth informed her that the two Legates had gone out to the Forest. Daisy had thanked the bird and blasted out, trying to get the message across as fast as possible—it was nearly seven in the morning now and she <em>still<em> hadn't finished her first task. Dimitri had probably told the others already and was sitting with Spring, waiting for her report.

Lost in thought, Daisy wasn't looking where she was going and crashed right into a light blue pajama shirt, falling down into the moss.

"Sorry, sorry, sorry!" Said a voice.

"No worries—oh Myles! Thank goodness, I was looking everywhere for you!" Daisy said, getting up and realizing that the blue pajama shirt was on a fellow fairy, one she was _looking_ for.

"Are you okay, Daisy?" a soft, feminine voice said. Beside Daisy was Olivia, Myles' companion. He had found her near this very spot one day and asked who she was—but all she knew was her name. Everything else—where she was from, her friends, family, how she got there—she had no clue about. Now the two were never far apart—Myles was Olivia's friend and in turn, Olivia kept his clumsy tendencies to a minimum.

"I'm fine, thanks Olivia. I love your headscarf, by the way. The purple suits you."

"Oh!" The young maybe-fae replied, her olive skin flushed. "Thank you."

Myles—feeling a little tall and out of place—shrunk down to the girl's height. "You were looking for us?" he asked Daisy, sitting on a nearby pebble.

"Oh yes, for hours now! I have a message from Spring! And it's super secret so you can't tell your Dad! Olivia, it's for you too. And make sure Myles doesn't tell Tooth!"

"Hey," Myles pouted.

"Of course," Olivia said, grinning.

"Good! Spring is convening a Summit today at Noon!"

"How come it's a secret?" Myles asked.

"Because Mother Nature told her not to. It's complicated kind of, I'm sure she'll explain it at the summit."

"Does it have to do with the darkness?" Olivia asked, fluttering down beside Daisy.

"Yes! Yes it does!"

"That's serious," Myles said.

"We'll be there, you can tell Spring that," Olivia said.

"Perfect! Thank you!" Daisy hugged Olivia tightly, then Myles, then both. "I hate to tell and run but I must get to Blossom and she's gonna be hard to find because she's the Easter Bunny now but I'll see you two later today!"

And before either of them could get a word in, the plant faerie was off.

"Did she say Blossom was _the_ Easter Bunny now?" Myles asked.

"Yes," Olivia replied.

"Then the rumours really are true?" Myles questioned.

"I guess we'll find out soon enough."

* * *

><p>When the clouds around him turned golden and thoughts of a good night's sleep and recollections of some of his favourite dreams came to mind, Dimitri stopped and took a breather.<p>

A little ways ahead was the Sandman's Palace. Made of their signature golden dust—the strong, industrial branch—the Palace of Dreams was golden, glimmering, and looked very similar to the palaces of far off places in the Middle East. The sun was rising, casting the sky around the shifting dream sands in brilliant shades of pinks and purples. Catching his breath, Dimitri set off once more, flying along the different dream strands and entering the palace through a window.

He looked around; tall mahogany bookshelves were crammed with books, loose sheaves of parchment in the spaces between the books and the smell of spilt ink covered the office. Plush worn couches sat gathered together, and in the middle of the room was a large mahogany desk with a tall cushioned chair holding the sleeping form of Sandman.

Grimacing, Dimitri flew to the tops of the shelves, trying his hardest to avoid the snoring man. If the fae were to guess, when the Sandman came back from his nightly dream weaving he plopped down in the closest comfortable surface and promptly passed out. It just so happened that the closest comfort item was his desk chair—just Dimitri's luck.

The doors out were right in front of him; hoping for the best, he flew down from the shelf and dive-bombed nearly to the floor, skimming the brown tiles as he raced towards the crack under the door. Slipping through it, he found himself in a long hallway.

If Sandman was sleeping then that meant that Xander would be watching over the dream sands in the heart of the palace. The fae followed the golden strands throughout the palace, choosing the thicker ones as he went, until finally he found himself in the room of the dream sands.

The room was grand and filled with the golden dust. All the strands came from a large fountaining pool of the golden sands, a dark young man at the top of it all, directing each thread.

"Dimitri my good fae! What brings you here?" the man asked, floating down on a cloud of golden dust.

"Official business, Xander," Dimitri replied. Xander hopped off his cloud, landing beside Dimitri.

"Of the Legate sort?"

"Yes. Her Blossomyness has arranged for a Summit to take place this afternoon, twelve sharp."

"What's the catch?"

"It's unsanctioned."

"Ah, I see."

"Yes. The Council met yesterday, as you are probably well aware."

"Vaguely. Father got home, gave me an overview then headed out. Good dreams don't spread themselves, you know. And what with the darkness spreading fear, us Sandmen and our dream dust are high in demand."

"Of course. I won't keep you much longer then, Xander. I'll need your answer before I leave and your promise to secrecy."

"Yes to both," Xander said, stretching his legs out and touching his bare feet. "I'll be there and you have my word that my Legend will not hear tell of our secret meetings."

"Excellent," Dimitri said. "Now then I best be off, still have to tell Aphrodite."

"I'd suggest a breather," Xander said, stretching his bare back now. "According to my Mother the atmosphere up to the Pantheon today is very thin," he finished. Dimitri breathed a sigh of relief. The flight up to the Dream Palace had been long and the winds terrible. The possibility of flying even _higher_ already had Dimitri's lungs aching. Thank goodness Sandman's wife Stella enjoyed weather watching as a hobby.

"Then I shall heed your advice and tell Spring. She'll probably send Jacqueline."

"Not to worry, the both of us will go. I could use a break myself. The sands will be fine for a little while—they always are."

"As you wish, Xander. I'll go inform her Bloomyness."

"Go on then, we'll be fine. Give Spring my regards! I have a few visits to make myself, now."

So off Dimitri flew, relieved to finally get some rest. And off Xander poofed in a cloud of golden dust, to fetch Jacqueline and visit the Romans.

* * *

><p>The Burrow was hectic as always. Bunnies bounced around, paint stained and hyper; chocolate smells wafted through the tunnels and holes. Daisy was in a rush; the lovely flowers and earthy design of the burrow that would normally distract the plant fae flashed by as she flew to the studio floor. The studio was vast; bunnies everywhere painted and packed Easter Baskets, paint splashing the floor, the chatter of voices loud and nearly overpowering. Long tables were set up with their art supplies, full to bursting with colourful buns of all sizes. At the head of it all the chaos, even louder than the workers, Blossom painted eggs and shouted orders.<p>

"C'mon only a few weeks left until Easter, we got chocolates to deliver and eggs to hide! Keep it moving guys, go on now! Oh, Daisy, hi!"

"Hello Blossom. Are you busy?"

"Nope," the bun said, hoping off the table and rushing into a quieter office room. It had been cleaned up since the incident, and was now in a relative state of neatness. Aside from the paint everywhere, of course. "What can I do ya for?"

"There's going to be a Summit today at noon. Spring has sent me to make sure you will be there. Will you be able to attend?"

"Well the workers are all at attention now; I whipped this place into shape in record time! We're super ahead—but don't tell my siblings! I should be able to make it, though I might be late but we'll see!"

"Alright, I'll go let Spring know!" Daisy made to leave before she stopped suddenly, remembering the reason why she had to tell Blossom in the first place, and not Spring.

"Almost forgot! The Summit's unsanctioned. So no telling your mom or siblings."

"Aye-aye! That makes leaving harder but I can handle it!"

"That's what we like to hear! See you later, Blossom!"

"See ya," The bun said, hopping back outside, her motivational yelling resuming.

* * *

><p>"It's chilly up here," said Xander, shivering.<p>

"Well if you had worn a shirt," Jacqueline murmured beside him.

"I never wear shirts."

"I know. You work that Aladdin look," Jacqueline said, grinning.

"Aladdin look?" Xander asked, stopping mid-flight.

"Well yeah," Jacqueline replied, stopping her own flight and turning around, floating in place. "The baggy pants, the vest… All you need is a monkey and a fez."

Xander rolled his eyes, smiling nonetheless and resuming flight, the winter sprite a bit ahead. "You're something else, Jacqueline."

"Awh shucks Xander, you make me blush," she joked.

Chuckling under his breath, Xander sped up, catching up to Jacqueline. Teleporting through the thin atmosphere was the easy part. Now, they flew beneath the clouds on which the Roman gods and goddesses choose to make their home, calling it the Pantheon. The out of place pair slunk and slid beneath the houses, making their way to Cupid's palace. Of course, all they had to go by was a recent map Xander had found in his Father's office. While Xander prided himself on his great memory and knowledge of all things, the map they had glanced at wasn't of the bottoms of the clouds.

"I think perhaps we've passed it."

"I can't tell, everything looks like one big cloud. We may have to take a peek up."

"Jacqueline, we can't be seen. That's too risky."

"Well would you rather we find Aphrodite? Or perhaps you prefer freezing your chest off and staring at white, poofy stuff all day."

Xander grinned. "Isn't that what you do all day anyway?"

"A, the cold never bothers me. Ever. And B, snow isn't always poofy. Personally, I think snow has a better consistency than clouds, dumb old wet non-frozen…"

"Alright Jacqueline, no need to get carried away as we are on a mission. You make a good point though. Let's take a peek up."

Nodding, the winter sprite and dream weaver drifted to the nearest cloudy base. Hands first so as not to get their faces and hair soaked, they waved away a bit of the cloud, peeking their heads up to see where they were.

"There's Jupiter's Palace, up top on that hill. We're facing the front of it which means…we're on the very edge and Cupid's Villa is somewhere on the lower clouds of the city."

"Wasn't it near the heart?" Jacqueline asked.

"I can't quite recall. Let's continue northwest, sound good?"

"Sure."

The pair floated back down below the city, trying to trace the north western roads. Finally they made it to the area in which their destination supposedly lay. Xander drifted about, trying to figure out which of the three clouds was which.

"It's the middle one, Xander, stop thinking."

"How do you know?" Xander asked, searching for Jacqueline.

"Below you," she said. "Come join me. The middle cloud is shaped like a heart."

Xander flew down beside Jacqueline, looking up. Sure enough, the idle cloud was the highest—and heart shaped.

"Ta-da!"

"You're brilliant, Jacqueline."

"Thanks, I try."

"Come one, let's go tell 'Dite."

"Right behind you!"

They flew up to the heart shaped cloud, peeking out once more. Outside of the stone house was none other than Cupid himself, his tall, blonde Legate behind him. Ducking back down quickly, the two watched, straining their ears for conversation.

"Are you sure having a drink with Bacchus is the best way to deal with that Council Meeting?" Aphrodite asked.

"Is to me. If anyone can make you forget your woes it's Bacchus."

"And spirits."

"Exactly. I'll be back later, don't do anything dumb and _don't_ touch any weapons you aren't trained in."

"That was _one time_," she said, huffing. "You go have a good time Uncle Cupid, I'll be _fine_. And so will the house and all of the lovers of the world and Mars' weapon supply."

"That's why we love ya, Kiddo," Cupid said, floating off. "See ya!"

"Bye."

Aphrodite leant on one of the columns, watching her Uncle fly off down the streets. With a sigh, she turned towards the cloud bush the two Legates were hiding behind.

"You can come out now, he's long gone."

"How'd you know we were here?" Asked Xander, landing beside the pink-clad Legate gracefully.

"Jacqueline is _freezing_ and wherever she goes the temperature drops _significantly_."

"I can't _help_ it you ninny," Jacqueline said, joining the pair.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," Aphrodite said. Suddenly she broke out into a smile, grabbing both Legates tightly and hugging them, her large wings fluttering in excitement and propelling them a few inches off the ground.

"It's so great to see you two! It's been much too long."

"Aunt Spring seems to think so to. She's called a Summit for this afternoon. And could you put us down now? Your feathers are making me sneezy," Jacqueline said, sniffling.

"Sorry," she replied, putting them down. "Spring has called a Summit?"

"Yes," Xander said. "It's short notice, we know, but circumstances being what they are…"

"Then the rumours are true?"

"EB's gone." Jacqueline said, bluntly. "Blossom's stepped in and that's why the Council meeting ran so late.

"_That's_ what Uncle meant. He was mumbling something about "that overgrown hairball" and the "damned darkness" and the bet he lost because of the meeting. Here, come in and we can talk quickly," Aphrodite said, ushering Xander and Jacqueline through the archway and into the atrium. She turned to the left, one of the many small rooms she had claimed as her own little study. Shooing some cherubs she shut the doors and took a seat, gesturing the other two to sit down.

"It's so pink in here," Jacqueline mumbled.

"It's been pinker," Aphrodite said. "Let's chat then, shall we? What exactly happened at the meeting?"

"More like what didn't happen," Jacqueline began, being the only Legate in the room who knew of the whole meeting. "Literally. It is true; Easter Bunny is gone. As Xander said before, our suspicions are correct. The darkness is getting stronger. So far the Council has come to the conclusion that this darkness is not working alone."

"For the love of love, seriously?" Aphrodite exclaimed.

"I'm afraid so," said Xander.

"Blossom has had to take over for her Dad," Jacqueline continued, leaning back in the chaise lounge chair she had sat in. "Because a Legate has had to step in, Spring wants to call a Summit. Mother Nature wouldn't let her."

"So it's unsanctioned," Dite said.

"Correct."

"Good. It's about time we Legates met up. It's been what, twenty years?"

"I think so. Maybe forty, who knows?" Jacqueline shrugged.

"Day and Night do. They'll tell us come this afternoon," Xander said.

"Thank you Sherlock," Jacqueline murmured.

"You're quite welcome," Xander replied, grinning.

It was quiet for a bit before Aphrodite spoke up. "The darkness is getting stronger. They've taken one Legend…one Legate has stepped in…what's next?"

"It could get better…or it could get worse," Xander murmured.

"Jack said that the Darkness seemed to be working its way up with the kidnappings. You don't think that maybe they have some kind of ulterior motive behind all this…do you?"

"Maybe you're right, Jacqueline. Maybe they do."

"Aphrodite," Jacqueline said dramatically. "You actually agree with me!"

"As do I, Jacqueline. This isn't just random. This is something else entirely…something bigger…something beyond anything we've ever seen before…"

"Well then," Aphrodite said, getting up from her desk. "I suppose we'll just have to go to the meeting to find out. What time is it at?"

"Noon sharp at Spring Meadow," Xander replied.

"We should get going, shouldn't we?" Aphrodite said, grabbing her bow and a sheath of arrows. "I'll grab us a bite to eat quickly then we're off."

"Time sure does fly," Jacqueline murmured, stretching and hopping off of the chaise lounge.

"Ladies," Xander said, gesturing to the door.

With thanks, the women went through the door, Xander following close behind. They grabbed some lunch and off the trio went to Spring Meadow.

It was time for the Legates to convene.

* * *

><p>In the flowery meadow just outside of the Quartz Forest, her cottage and its rooms up in the trees behind her, Spring watched the sun hit the highest point in the sky. She glanced at the sundial in her front garden—it was about five minutes to noon. Grinning and putting her papers down on the wicker table on her porch, Spring sprang out into the meadow, staring at the beautiful flowers around her.<p>

Breathing in, Spring spread her feet apart, keeping her stance heavy and grounded. She drew her arms apart and brought them together, the earth cracking around her in a long, rectangular shape. She brought her arms up, the rectangular stone slab popping up from the Earth, the flowers—at her command—leaving the top of the stone and settling into the ground. Dimitri and Daisy joined her sides, the trays of food Spring had done following them magically. Satisfied once a nice layer of moss was on the table, serving as a tablecloth of sorts, Spring glanced back to the sundial—it was time. High Noon.

Standing tall at the head of the table (or as tall as she could be—after all, Spring was incredibly short) as the food settled on top, Spring watched the magic happen. All at once, the formerly silent and still meadow was filled with dancing lights, sparkling from all corners. A bright light and a dark light appeared on either side of Spring, Day and Night stepping out of the folds of time and standing beside the season.

"Hullo, Spring," said Night, swathed in his dark cloak that replicated the nighttime sky, the moon and the stars sparkling along the top of the cloak.

"Night. Day. I'm glad you made it."

"Of course!" Day said, shaking the stray sunshine off of her shimmering golden dress.

"Everyone arrives right on time," Night stated.

"Oh, I love when that happens," Day said, her eyes bright and sunny.

"So do I; the meadow never looks as pretty as this," Spring said, gesturing around them.

The meadow shimmered as all the different types of magics the Legates possessed gathered in the clearing; sparks of blue and pink and gold and white danced about the sky; a little bit of snow fell every so often, the soft white flakes melting as they hit the ground below. Above them, Aphrodite flew down, her large feathered wings creating quite the breeze. She landed and walked towards the table, dusting bits of cloud off of her pink stola, the cloud bits turning into rosy sparkles and fluttering onto the ground. Beside Aphrodite in a burst of golden sand appeared Xander, sitting on his golden cloud of dream threads and making his way to his spot. Beside him in a flurry of snowflakes and blue sparkles appeared Jacqueline; she dusted off her dress and made her way alongside the other three to their side of the table.

As they appeared, Spring summoned the vines. They burst forth from the forests, twisting and turning and forming comfortable seats; the Legates who had arrived gladly took their seats.

"Aunt Spring, are these vines vulnerable to the cold?" Jacqueline asked, staring at her vine seat.

"Only a little. Don't worry, Jacqueline! It'll be fine!"

"Better safe than sorry," she murmured. With a wave of her hand, a tall icy chair appeared, looking quite similar to a small throne.

"You show off," Aphrodite said.

"Please, that was nothing," Jacqueline boasted.

Spring grinned; as the two women bickered, the other Legates trickled in. A hole opened up in the ground, and out popped Blossom; covered in paint and painting an egg. She had two belts strapped to her chest—one filled with even more eggs, the other with paintbrushes and paints.

"Working hard, Blossom?"

"Always!" she replied, bouncing to her seat.

Finally out of the forest came two streaks of light; one grew to a normal size—though he was still quite short—white sparks of magic floating down beside him. His smaller than average wings fluttered, the faerie beside him clad in purple sitting on his shoulder.

"Myles and Olivia, hello! How are you two?"

"Not bad I guess," Myles said.

"Still not remembering anything," Olivia said, sighing.

"We were down by the lake today," Myles added. "We were trying to see if anything would boost Olivia's memory."

"Any luck?" Spring inquired.

Both of them shook their heads, sadly.

"Oh one day you'll remember Olivia! I'm sure of it."

"It's still a little far off," Night ventured. "But Spring is right."

"I don't see why you can't just tell us now," Myles whined.

"We could kill time," Day said.

"Not kill it," Night murmured. "Just greatly alter the course of history in seven different ways, five of which are not good."

"What about the other two?"

"Less not good," Day said, smiling.

Myles sighed, slumping in his chair. His eyes roamed the crowd, settling on Jacqueline and Aphrodite across the table.

"Hello ladies," he said, grinning.

"Myles," Jacqueline said, eyebrow raised.

"I've told you a thousand times Myles, you're fifteen hundred years old! I'm twenty-three hundred. It won't work," Aphrodite said.

"I'm just saying hi," Myles said, blushing.

"We know," Jacquie said, grinning.

Olivia giggled, settling on Myles' shoulder. "One day you'll manage to charm them, I'm sure of it Myles."

"Thanks Liv," he grumbled, slouching even further.

"Is everyone here now?" Spring asked, counting under her breath. Several nods and a few yesses helped confirm her headcount. Spring grinned, grabbing her papers and putting them down on the table. "Perfect! Let's begin, then. I call this well overdue Summit of Legates to session! We have a lot to cover before we get to the main purpose for this emergency unsanctioned summit."

"May I inquire about my request, Spring?" Olivia ventured.

"Oh yes, of course! Your official induction as a Legate. Didn't we do this last meeting?"

A few shrugs and uncertain murmurs disproved Spring's theory. Shrugging and waiting for the noise to die down, Spring sighed.

"I'm so behind, oh dear. Okay, all in favour of Olivia being inducted as a second Legate, alongside Myles Tooth, to the Legendary Figure Tooth Fairy?"

Everyone put their hands up. And with no opposition, Spring granted the request—officially—and after preforming the proper rites (having had Tooth Fairy's approval for decades possibly), moved on to the next item on the agenda; the _only_ item on the agenda—the disappearances.

"Now I'm sure you've all heard about the disappearances—yes Xander?"

"I think I speak for all of us Legates when I say this, Spring; do the disappearances have to do with the secrecy of this meeting?"

"And what about all that melting fuss two years ago?" Myles added.

"That was us. As in me and Jack," Jacqueline said.

"Oh yes, I heard about that! Your brother is back with the family now?" Olivia asked.

Jacqueline grinned and nodded. "It's been so great to have him back, the twins adore him and now I don't have to be the oldest anymore," she finished, winking.

"Right on," said Aphrodite, fist bumping Jacquie.

"So what about the melty thing?" Blossom asked, paint flying and splattering Myles' white coat.

"Well when Jack was thawed last last year, his power source for his core was lost as well. So he was basically powerless. I had to step in and help him find his inner power source, seeing as how he was no longer bitter or jealous or what have you."

A murmur of understanding went through the table, the three adults at the end smiling at each other—the Summit always went off topic.

"So it _was_ the Deliquesce!" Xander exclaimed. Jacquie nodded, absentmindedly playing with snowflakes and smiling.

"It was all easy at first, working Jack's frosty butt off after reconciling with him up North and trying to fix the problem, but then I started having these weird attacks and so we temporarily fixed the dome and went to Frost Mansion."

"That must have been one heck of a reunion," Aphrodite snickered.

"Fiera slapped Jack right in the face!" Jacqueline exclaimed, to a mixed reaction of gasps and laughter, someone murmuring about Jack deserving it. "It was hilarious," she continued. "Then things got complicated because Pyros came back and there was mind control through ancient outlawed potions involved and we kind of put a giant hole to the center of the Earth in the courtyard of the North Pole—"

"Jacqueline," Spring interrupted. "We need to get moving, care to cut it short?"

"Not my fault!"

"Blossom you started it!"

"Myles did actually," the bun exclaimed, more paint flying and hitting Myles.

"Green is not my colour, Blossom! And Olivia continued it, you can't just blame me!"

"Sorry," Olivia murmured. "Curiosity and all."

"No matter," Night said, his smooth voice quieting everyone. "Jacqueline will finish in forty-seven seconds and then we can get on with it." He turned his strange milky eyes to Jacqueline, inclining her to continue.

"Right. Anyway, we defeated Pyros, Jack found his core, I creamed him in skating and the North Pole didn't melt and destroy all of the world."

"Your guess was off," Day teased. Night frowned, his Legate counterpart giggling.

"Only by a bit. Now then, to business Spring?"

"Yes, yes of course. Oh where to begin," she mumbled, rifling through her files. "Oh, forget it," Spring murmured, a warm breeze blowing the papers away. "No need for those old things, I can manage perfectly on my own here. I called this Summit secretly because, to put it bluntly, the rumours circulating throughout the magical world are true: yes, the kidnappings have become more frequent and the kidnappers have grown bolder. It is true, Legates: Easter Bunny is gone. As Blossom can very well tell you."

Spring had expected the Legates to be surprised; she had thought that she'd have to wait a while before she could continue on with the meeting. The Legates, however, all looked—slightly surprised but mostly…relieved?

"It would appear this hasn't come as a shock to most of you," Night said, a smile on his dark face.

"Duh," Blossom said, gesturing to herself. "I saw firsthand…almost."

"I heard from Jack after the Council meeting earlier," Jacqueline mumbled.

"Dimitri told myself and Jacqueline later confirmed it," Xander said.

"These two told me," Aphrodite mumbled, gesturing to the sandman and snow sprite.

"We heard it on the rumour train," Myles said.

"Mrs. Tooth heard it at the hospital and told us when she returned back to the palace," Olivia added, Daisy's slip covered.

"Well then," Spring said. "I suppose this simplifies things."

"Did the council come up with anything new?" Myles asked.

"If only," Jacqueline mumbled, Spring nodding.

"Mother Nature believes that these shadows that are supposedly appearing when the kidnappings occur may have made an alliance or a pact of some sort with a higher power. For the time being, they are not sure of the intentions these shadows have."

"My brother thinks that the shadows are working their way up with the kidnappings," Jacqueline said. Briefly everyone talked at once, spouting different conspiracy theories; Night cleared his throat and everyone was quiet once more.

"Thank you Jacqueline. Your brother may have a point."

"If they're working their way up and they have EB now…the other Legends _are_ next," Day confirmed.

A solemn silence settled around the table; Spring looked thoughtful, choosing her words carefully before proceeding.

"Alright Legates, here's the deal. We're not going to let this darkness win, alright? From now on, you must protect your Legendary Figure at all costs. Don't leave them alone for too long, keep an eye out for darkness and be aware."

They nodded together, everyone in mutual agreement—their legends must be protected at all costs. If anyone else went missing…they didn't want to think about what that would mean for the holidays, the children, the magic, the world…and themselves.

* * *

><p><strong>AN-I know I had that biweekly schedule thing going on but real life interrupted in the form of projects, Doctor Who binge, Reading Week, and now more reading, tests and exams soon. I did want to update something so here you go, Legate centric chappie! It was originally 7k plus words...I had to trim it down a lot. Anyway, hopefully everyone is well and those biweekly updates of Frostmas and Dark Shadows will probably start up again closer to April (though I will have Year Four up next week). I really wanna get ahead writing wise so I can post like I did with Crystal Springs. Anywho, reviews are love! Hopefully you don;t mind the outpouring of OC's, I promise the well-loved canon characters will return next chappie!**

* * *

><p><strong>DISCLAIMERS<strong>

**I do not own _The Santa Clause_, nor do I own Charlie Calvin, Scott Calvin/Santa Claus, Jack Frost, Bernard, Mother Nature, or any other canon characters mentioned above. I am making no profit off of this, it is purely for my enjoyment as well as that of the readers. I do, however, own Crystal Springs as well as Jacqueline Frost, Jack's Sister/Legate, their family (Blaise, Winter, Fino and Fiera Frost), Spring, AND the Legates. Any resemblance they bear to any specific person/place/thing is purely coincidental; please do not use them without MY permission.**


	7. Chapter Six

**Chapter Six  
><strong>_March 2009_

Charlie had gotten nowhere. He had started with Bernard who of course denied everything. The head elf had said that if there was something, he'd tell Charlie...unless the boss forbade it. From that Charlie had gathered that there was something big—but he had had a sneaking suspicion that his Dad had told everyone to keep it on the down low.

So Charlie had tried his luck with Elle, who simply said that he shouldn't ask questions he didn't want to know the answer to.

Then Charlie had asked Carol who seemingly also knew nothing—she tried to use the principal voice on him. It worked and he left her be. Now he was following his Dad around, trying to make some sort of progress on what was causing the weird mood around the Pole. So far, his Dad wasn't cracking either.

"Charlie, have you ever considered that maybe you're overreacting a little bit?"

Charlie paused for a moment. "Not really. I mean briefly but Dad, c'mon, the atmosphere around here? Everyone's on edge, even you! Bernard's not cracking and Elle's speaking in riddles and Carol used the _principal voice_ on me!"

"Elle always speaks in riddles, sport. And if Bernard's been told not to tell someone something by me then he won't crack. And she uses the principal voice on me too, you know. Almost all the time!"

"That last bit was _way_ too much information."

Santa snickered, continuing his rounds with Charlie close behind in the hopes that his son would see he was busy and drop this interrogation _soon_. Though his plan was flawed (and a tad rude, he'd admit; he never liked keeping things from Charlie) he knew that if Charlie kept it up he would crack, and then the worry train would start, ho boy…

"Dad. Something's going on."

Santa stopped in his tracks and turned around, Charlie nearly crashing into him.

"Look, Charlie. Can we just let it go for the time being? It's a little hectic in the magic world right now and it has everyone on edge. Yes, I know, you want to know but just stay out of it for now, okay?"

"But Dad!"

"Charlie. Can we please just drop it?"

Charlie stared at his Dad, the look in his eyes practically pleading. With a sigh of defeat, Charlie nodded.

"Okay. I'll drop it. But what about the other thing I mentioned?" Charlie half whispered as they continued walking through the workshop.

"What, Jack and the strange girl? Tell me, what did the strange girl look like? Loving the dollhouses, Polly! You're doing great!"

"Thanks Santa!"

Charlie sighed, deciding to just continue the conversation as his Dad commented on the elves handy work as they walked. "Like Jack. Except a girl."

Santa raised an eyebrow; sighing, Charlie went more into detail.

"She had curly frozen hair, pale skin, same ish face shape, curvy ish—I don't know, it was dark!"

"It's still dark."

"_Dad_. What do you think I did, check her out?"

"Did you?"

"Dad!"

"What?"

"I am _mortified_."

"Charlie, I was twenty-three once too, you know."

They wound their way through the crowds walking back and forth by the Naughty and Nice Center, moving to the other side of the Workshop. Santa glanced at Charlie's red face and grinned, chuckling.

"C'mon, Charlie. I'm messing with ya! I'm your Dad, I gotta embarrass you sometimes."

"Thanks Dad," Charlie said, sarcastically.

"No problem sport—nice job on those remote control jeeps Larry! Man, spinning rims are so great."

"Thanks Santa!"

"Yeah…Think I can put spinning rims on the sleigh?"

"It doesn't have wheels."

"Right."

"Dad! Jack? The girl with him? Their whispering at four in the morning?"

"Four? Those poor kids, they're gonna be _exhausted_. I didn't know he left that late…"

"Dad!"

"Charlie, look," said Santa, pulling him off to a quiet corner and staring at him honestly. "I know you don't like Jack. And you have every right to not like him. But believe me when I say this—he has changed. Yesterday there was a Council Meeting. Some strange things have been happening in the magical world—you remember, Crystal Springs? I told you all about the city and what happened two years ago."

"I remember. I don't understand it much at all, but yeah."

"It's fine, it took me a while to get a grasp on it too. Strange things have been happening in Crystal Springs, and all of us Legendaries were trying to figure out what the cause was. And that's all I'll say about it, okay? That meeting wore us all out, Jack included. Now as for the strange girl with him? It was more than likely his sister Jacqueline. She was looking for him after the meeting, their family was worried. He isn't plotting or scheming anymore, I promise. Now don't pry Charlie, okay? And stop worrying. It's fine! We have it under control."

Charlie processed the information, letting it all sink in. He had gotten his answers, as cryptic as they were.

"Alright Dad. I won't bring it up anymore."

"Okay. Thanks Charlie."

Charlie smiled, continuing to follow his Dad on his rounds.

"Hey, Dad…" Charlie began.

"I told you Charlie, don't worry about it!"

"Not that, Dad. It's about Aurora. I decided to live in residence."

"That's great! Good old socialization. Get the real University experience, eh Charlie? All that partying and what not."

"I think I had enough of that in College," he replied, grinning. "Anyway, move-in day is the middle of August. How busy are you and Carol that week?"

"Oh, I think we could spare a day or to move you in. If, uh, that's what you're asking."

"Duh!" Charlie said, grinning. "Of course I want you guys to be there to move me in!"

Santa chuckled, his face jolly. "Then of course we'll be there, Charlie! I wouldn't have it any other way."

"Me neither, Dad," Charlie said. "Do you think I could stay here for a bit of July, before move in day?"

"I don't see why not," Santa said, his magical troubles momentarily forgotten in the excitement of his son going off to University and the _awesome_ scooters that had just come around the corner.

Charlie watched his Dad praise the elves for their craftsmanship, grinning. This year was for sure going to be great, he thought, following his Dad outside at a run—he was testing the scooters and that _probably_ wouldn't end well. He'd stay for the rest of the day and head home in the morning; something told Charlie that today was going to be a dangerous day for his Dad's limbs.

* * *

><p><em>Late February 2009<em>

This year was most definitely not going great for Bunny. There was those kidnappings, for starters. They'd been getting worse and worse and now apparently had gotten him. He didn't remember much of the attack. One moment, he was in his office and suddenly there were shadows everywhere and the fear had pushed and pushed and he had blacked out, waking up in a cold, stony room.

His first thought was that it was a prank from the boys. But when he took a closer look, he realized that those scamps couldn't have done something as realistically creepy as this place. And cold…it was _freezing_. The Burrow was usually much warmer, in a nice green area of Germany…and this place was very much not green, Bunny noted. No, it was dark and spooky and awful, downright awful! He shivered, hopping to the front of the cell—except it wasn't a cell. There was no bars blocking his way out or anything! Laughing, he hopped out into the hallway and found himself surrounded by darkness. He couldn't see any ends of the tunnels.

"Okay…" he slowly turned around, meaning to go back into his hidey hole cell thing…but it was gone too.

"What the…?"

"Confused?" said a voice, seeming to come from the shadows. All of Bunny's hair stood on end as the darkness seemed to move around him, hissing quietly. The darkness pushed in on him and he staggered back, gulping.

"Uh…a little bit? Ya know what would be great right about now? An explanation," he said, braver than he felt.

"How rude of me, denying the Easter Bunny an explanation…"

"Who are ya?" he asked.

"According to you Legendaries and your good creatures, nothing but a bad dream…not so dreamlike anymore now, is it?" the voice said sharply, a trilling laugh following. "Oh how the tables have turned on you all, yes indeed…and who knew it would be so much _fun_?"

The laughter floated about again, coming from everywhere at once. There was a blue glow in the shadows, Bunny noticed. Was that where the voice was coming from?

"You haven't answered my question," EB said, his bravery slowly leaving. "Who are you?"

"Your worst nightmare," the voice said, the blue light speeding towards him. Bunny screamed and jumped away as fast as he could—admittedly he was a bit of a fraidy bun. Thank goodness none of the other Legendaries were here to see him run away like this, or even worse, his huge family. Bunny decided then that he needed to get out and he needed to get out _now_.

"Oh you can run away all you want! But you'll never find an exit. The shadows are everywhere, creating chaos and havoc, moving things around and doing what they do best…"

Bunny heard other screams then…there were others…and they sounded beyond scared. He darted to a side and found himself in another stone vault; leaning against the wall, he calmed himself, taking deep breaths.

"Oh what fun this will be! But you know, Bunny, you look lonely…perhaps I should find you a friend…"

The shadows around him hissed in delight.

"The shadows seem to think it's a good idea…now who to get? Perhaps that overgrown fairy with a fondness for teeth…"

"Hey! Leave the others alone!" EB said.

"Now where's the fun in that?" The voice said. "Well! If we want to get started we must leave right away, of course. Don't stray too far Bunny…we will have to perform a draining ceremony on you, won't we? Can't have Legends full of magic trying to escape here. Then afterwards we must fetch your friend."

And with much laughter, the blue light and its disembodied voice disappeared, leaving EB alone in the dark with naught but his worst fears.

* * *

><p><em>March 2009<em>

"Does frost come off of coats?" Myles asked, flying alongside Olivia. She laughed, glancing at the sparkling side of Myles' coat that was now so cold that wisps of dry ice were emanating off of it.

"I'm sure it will melt. Maybe. You really need to stop flirting with them, you know," Olivia chided. "Keep this up and next time your jacket won't be the _only_ thing Jacqueline freezes."

Myles sighed, blushing. "I know. I just wanna make an impression on them, you know?"

Olivia rolled her eyes, smiling. "Maybe start practising your charm on someone a bit younger?"

The little fae huffed, crossing his arms and shivering—he had touched the frozen part of the coat. "All the other fifteen hundred year olds don't get me."

Now Olivia laughed loudly, her flight swerving briefly. "Because you're such a misunderstood bad boy, I'm sure."

"Yes! Oh, wait. You're poking fun. Stop that," the boy said, grinning nonetheless. Olivia was probably one of the best things that had ever happened to him. She always knew what to say to make his doubts go away. Myles had a tendency to make himself bigger than he seemed—but then he always came off as a bit of a jerk. It was hard when you were constantly messing up and to top it all off, your wings were much smaller than all the other fairies _and_ your dad was the _Tooth Fairy_ and so of _course _you had big expectations on like every end ever.

"You're doing it again, Myles," Olivia said. "Overthinking."

"How can you tell?"

"I know you well enough," she replied simply, as the clouds cleared and the tall mountain range in which the Tooth Fairy's palace was situated appeared. "Here, I know what will get your mind off things—what's our plan of attack?"

"Attack? What attack?"

"It's a figure of speech, silly. How are we gonna keep an eye on your Dad?"

"I…uh…I hadn't really thought about it…I was hoping you had, to be honest. This whole protect the Legends thing has got me all nervous and stuff."

"For once I haven't quite thought of something either."

"Maybe we should just like stay close to Dad? We could try to follow him out at night but that never goes well for me."

"Well you've got me now, Myles. I'll keep you out of trouble."

He blushed. "Thanks, Liv. And double thanks too because I think I know exactly how to keep a close watch on Dad…"

* * *

><p>"You want to what?" Tooth said moments later, in the receiving courtyard of his palace. The tile floors were cloudy and white, a system of clear pipes around them all stemming towards a wide central pillar. Approximately one thousand and forty eight tubes stuck out of the vast marble wall, shooting out the collection boxes for the numerous birds, fairies and mice that helped make Tooth's job a little bit easier (his wife's idea, gods bless Terri). The pipes also worked in reverse, leading to all ends of the round room and filing the children's teeth away for safe keeping. The ceiling was non existent, opening up into the vast white cloudiness that surrounded Tooth's Palace—easier for the faeries and birds to get in and out.<p>

"You heard me!" Myles said, a pained smile plastered onto his face. "I want to go out in the field with you more often!"

Tooth raised an eyebrow; Myles' eye twitched. Olivia sighed, resisting the urge to face palm.

"But you hate going out into the field. Remember last time? The quarters fell down the drain, several guns were shot, and the whole thing with that lawn mower…"

"That was one time, Dad."

"Or that time with the hockey sticks," Tooth continued.

"Yeah, but—"

"And remember a few months ago, with the baby and the dog?"

Myles sighed.

"Look son, I'm very happy you want to head into the field with me! But I'm just a little confused. I mean normally you avoid field work like cavities. Why the sudden change of heart?"

"I dunno, I was just thinking maybe it would be good for us? Like that bonding thing Mom always talks about."

"Did I hear the word bonding?" Said a voice.

"Terri! I didn't know you had gone out into the field today! Well, this one. No shift at CS General today?" Tooth asked, looking at a little red-headed fairy.

She laughed, growing in size and shaking her curly head. "Nope, they didn't need me today and I got bored. And you remember that group of boys in Alberta from last year? There was another incident and, well…" Terri shrugged, showing her husband the pile of teeth in her hand.

Tooth let out a low whistle.

"So I figured I'd do some collecting for you. Much easier than working the ER, let me tell you. Now what's this I hear about bonding?"

"I wanna go out in the field with Dad again."

"I think it's a great idea," Terri said distractedly, dodging a few birds and helping a mouse to a pipe as the pile of teeth in her hand was efficiently sorted and put away.

"I understand now," Tooth said suddenly, realization dawning on him. "It's cause of the whole darkness thing, isn't it?"

"Wha-what?" Myles exclaimed, smacking his head on one of the pipelines and upsetting a mouse in the process. "No it's not!"

"Well don't you worry about me, son! The darkness is no match for your old man!"

"_Roy_," Terri chided, using Tooth's real name. "If Myles wants to go out in the field with you then let him! It'll be fun! Just my two boys out and about, collecting bloody teeth and sticking quarters under pillows! Besides, it won't be like the last few times," she half whispered the last part. "He has been getting better."

"And he's got me, Mister Tooth Fairy," Olivia said, smiling.

"And Olivia is a wonderful influence on Myles! C'mon, it'll be fine! What could possibly go wrong?"

Tooth looked thoughtful for a moment, ignoring those famous last words his lovely wife had muttered.

"Well, alright. A little more field work might be good for ya, my little molar," Tooth said, ruffling his son's hair.

"Da-_ad_…" Myles groaned, pouting and trying to fix his now mussed hair.

"Until later, kiddo," Tooth said, one of the fairy helpers tugging him away.

"I hate that nickname, little molar. I like the incisor tooths the best."

"The molars are the strongest though. You sure you're okay with going back out, Myles? I know fieldwork is hard for you," Terri said, glancing at her son's small wings.

"It'll be fine, Mom," Myles said.

"If you're sure then I'm sure. Now I gotta put away the rest of these for your father. Watch out for those overhead pipes on your way out," Terri warned, floating off to the tops of the central pillar.

"I will," Myles murmured.

Olivia fluttered near his shoulder, a grin on her face. "We did it Myles! Mission accomplished!" she held out her tiny hand, Myles tapping it gently with his pinky finger.

"Yeah," Myles said, smiling once more. "Mission accomplished."

* * *

><p>They lasted until April.<p>

Things were better for Myles on the field, of course. Olivia was there to cover up his blunders and help him out of sticky situations. But the constant hounding of his dad had Myles exhausted. The fifteen hundred year old fae was curled up on his bed, groaning. Beside him, Olivia lay sprawled out—she was just as exhausted.

"I can't do this anymore," Myles said, muffled by his pillow. He wondered if the other Legates were as tired as he was right now.

"We must Myles, you know that."

Myles groaned once more, rolling over and almost squishing Olivia.

"Careful."

"Sorry."

"It's alright."

"I just dunno how I can keep going out there with his constant lecturing and hovering over me! I think I've improved, haven't I?"

Olivia smiled—he had improved a bit…but half of his improvement _was_ because of her.

"I'll take that as a good silence. Ugh. If he comes in and so much as mentions fieldwork today I'm gonna—"

"Hey kiddo!"

"—Dad! Hi, hey. What's…what's up?"

"I've got another run to make."

"Alright, I'm coming."

"Myles, stop. You've been working really hard. This one is close by, I'll be in and out in no time! Stay put, it'll be fine. I'm not gonna get captured or something," Tooth chuckled. "You two have been working hard. You'll need some rest. Sleep, alright? I'll be back before you know it."

"S-sure, Dad…"

"See ya, kiddo! Don't forget to floss!"

"Never do. Bye Dad."

With a thumbs up Tooth left them, hovering down the halls and making his way to the receiving courtyard for this supposedly fast delivery. Once Tooth was gone and out of earshot, Myles sunk deeper into his bed and grinned, sprawled out. His body felt heavy; his Dad telling him to stay put had lifted a huge weight off of his shoulders. He had been more tired than he thought and hadn't even noticed.

"I dunno about you Liv, but I'm gonna take a quick nap. I'm so exhausted…" he trailed off, his eyes fluttering shut. he was barely conscious long enough to hear Olivia's reply and see her make her way to her tiny bed and plunk down under the covers as well. She was out as fast as Myles had been.

Both fell into a deep slumber, the flickering darkness in the corners of the room going unnoticed.

* * *

><p>Myles awoke with a gasp and sat upright in bed.<p>

"What year is it!?" he said out loud; glancing at the clock by his bed, Myles realized that it was still the same day—but he had been asleep for nearly two hours. Sighing, he rubbed his eyes and slid out of bed, glancing out the windows.

"Dark already?" he wondered out loud. That's when he realized that something was not right. He glanced at the clock again—it was only three in the afternoon…despite how high up they were it shouldn't have been as dark outside as it was.

"Olivia…Olivia, you awake? I think something's wrong…"

Olivia's eyes fluttered open; she rubbed them and looked around.

All the hair on Myles' arms and neck stood up; so many things told him that something was not right.

Olivia shivered. "It's awfully cold. And dark. Is your father home?"

"Dad!" Myles realized. At a run, he burst out of his room, flying as fast as he could down the hall, zig zagging until he made it to the courtyard. He stopped mid-flight, landing gently and walking in, gasping.

The courtyard was covered in darkness. Some of the pipes were cracked; the fairies and the birds were nowhere to be seen, sans perhaps a dozen of each who were flying in every which direction, confused and afraid. The mice ran amuck everywhere; teeth were scattered around the floor, the capsules that held them thrown about.

"Oh no, oh no," Myles staggered back as he remembered Spring's warnings. _Protect the Legends at all costs_.

"Myles? What is it?"

"I think that the darkness got Dad," he said. Olivia gasped.

"Do you know for sure?" she asked.

"I'm about to find out," he replied as one of the fairies crashed into him.

"So sorry, so sorry—oh, Baby Tooth! Oh no,"

"What is it? What's wrong?" Myles asked.

"It was awful. There was darkness and a weird blue light…and we were all so scared Baby Tooth, so scared! And then…" the fairy shivered. "Then the darkness swallowed Tooth Fairy up, just like that!"

Myles felt his heart drop into his chest. He glanced at Olivia, her hand on her throat.

"Oh no," she said. "Oh _no_."

"They got him," Myles said. "They got Dad."

They had failed.

_He_ had failed.

* * *

><p><strong>AN-It's like nearly 1 in the morning and I'm exhausted; but since I'm 2 Chapters ahead *raises the roof* I figured I'd post a chapter ;) I'm still not quite sure what day I'll update this on-either Saturday, Friday or Monday; but I'll figure that out sometime next week, if I have time. I leave for England Thursday and I'm there for 6 weeks doing the schools yo. I get to go out into the field! That s, the archaeology field. The flight is nearly 8 hours so I should be able to get a fair amount of writing done for both Ds and TTYoF (which is on a temporary hold, I really need to get ahead in it). Also total side note, look up the song Polaroid by Imagine Dragons-I'm thinking of changing the title of Smiles to Polaroid because of this song, it made me think of Jack and the Frosts right away. What do you guys think?**

**Anywho you wanted Legates, I delivered. A glimpse at Tooth's Legate duo, his son Myles and his son's friend Olivia! She's kinda like an adoptive daughter. She doesn't know how old she is, she isn't sure where she's from because Myles found ehr by a stream and she had no memory of anything before that. I'm awful, and I _love it_.**

**Next chapter is some more Legatey goodness, Jack and Momma N bonding, and a look at Cupid and his "niece" Aphrodite...be excited ;D Hopefully I can put it up next week once I'm all settled in at the BISC! And now for disclaimers and that lovely white box. I'd love to hear what you all think of this chapter! Until the reviews and the next update, adieu! Hope you're all doing well! *blows kisses***

* * *

><p><strong>DISCLAIMERS<strong>

******I do not own _The Santa Clause_, nor do I own Charlie Calvin, Scott Calvin/Santa Claus, Bernard, Tooth Fairy, or any other canon characters mentioned above. I am making no profit off of this, it is purely for my enjoyment as well as that of the readers. I do, however, own Crystal Springs as well as Myle, Olivia, Terri Tooth and Willow and her army of shadows. Any resemblance they bear to any specific person/place/thing is purely coincidental; please do not use them without MY permission.******

******I also do not own Ms. Elle Connelly. She belongs to the lovely etiquette-faux-pas, aka Ana, and I am merely borrowing her and have promised to return her relatively unharmed.******


	8. Chapter Seven

**Chapter Seven  
><strong>_April 2009_

"You know, you could do to visit more often," Mother Nature said, walking alongside her grandson. The Eastern River trickled by them, sparkling in the sunlight.

"The same goes for you, Grandmother," Jack replied, hands in his pockets.

"Spring has been hounding me. I haven't been able to leave the Garden without her knowing first!"

"Afraid of you getting Legend-napped?"

"I suppose so. But there's only been one of us taken, thank goodness. And between you and I Jack dear, I'm incredibly overpowered and if anyone even got into the Quartz Forest without myself finding out, they'd have a storm coming. Quite literally."

Jack laughed. "Ah, Grandmother. You're oh so humble."

"Well aren't you one to talk," she teased.

Jack looked like he was about to protest; the words died on his lips as he chose instead to shrug. "I am pretty great. Anyway Grandmother, if it makes you feel any better, from what I've heard all the Legates have been watching after us Legends since EB's disappearance."

"Only slightly reassuring. I'm nearly as old as Father Time, I should have _some_ measure of freedom."

"You sound like an absolute child," Jack mumbled. Mother Nature stopped their walk, steps away from the portal out to the forest.

"Young man, you should respect your elders."

Taking a leaf out of his sister's book, Jack stuck his tongue out. Mother Nature swatted him, grinning. "Hasn't your sister been hounding you?"

"Like you wouldn't believe. She knows I'm a big boy though and leaves me to my devices, but man, her voice is starting to get annoying," he said the last part slightly louder, frowning. Mother Nature figured that his Legate was a constant presence in his mind nowadays, and that he was arguing mentally with her currently—at least she wasn't as clingy as her Aunt Spring, though. Jack was lucky.

"If you and your sister are done there," Mother Nature began, Jack snapping back to attention, "I think we're—well not totally, but relatively in the clear. It's April and we haven't had another disappearance, Legend nor Citizen."

Before Jack had time to reply, the portal glowed and two small forms shot out of it frantically.

"Mother Nature!" one said, growing in size.

"Myles?"

"Mother Nature they got him, they got Dad," he said, on the verge of tears.

"What did? What happened? Myles, calm down child and speak to me," Mother Nature said, bent down at the young fae's level.

"We can't find Ms. Tooth anywhere, Mother Nature. The receiving room was a mess; Myles calmed the collectors while I calmed him and as soon as we got everything in some semblance of order, we came right here," Olivia said.

Mother Nature shared a look with Jack; he was equally as astonished and shocked as she. Did Olivia really just say what they think she had just said?

"The Darkness got Mister Tooth Fairy, Mother Nature. Tooth Fairy's gone."

Mother Nature gasped; Jack flinched. Their fears were confirmed.

"I failed," Myles blubbered, his face hidden in Mother Nature's dress. "I failed…"

* * *

><p>Tooth dragged himself up against the stone wall, holding his head…he had a <em>wicked<em> headache. He squinted, his eyes not yet used to the dark that surrounded him. He was pretty sure he had a flashlight _somewhere_ in his coat. He patted himself up and down, searching for it—but found his pockets bare.

Which was strange. He never left Tooth Palace without his necessities.

He ran through his list of supplies: flashlight, truth floss, normal floss, mint floss, toothbrushes, quarter rolls, first aid kit (with extra Band-Aids for Myles), amnesia dust, laughing gas…nothing was in its spot. His pockets were _literally_ empty. Even his goggles and flying cap were off his head!

"What's the big idea?" he voiced out into the dark.

No answer.

His eyes finally adjusting, he looked around. It was all darkness. He could make out rough stone walls, but there didn't seem to be any windows or means of escape. Presuming he was in some sort of dungeon, he looked to the cell wall. Except, there _was_ no cell wall. There was an opening; tiny one at that. But nothing stood blocking the entrance. Or in his case, exit.

Grinning, his mind on Myles and how he had told his son he'd be alright, Tooth raced to the exit and looked out.

"Don't bother, Pal. It's all hallways and emptiness and fog and all that screaming, _ugh_."

That voice…it sounded familiar. But it couldn't be, because if it was who he thought it was then he was…

"EB, is that you?"

"Well it _isn't_ Santa."

"It _is_ you! I found you! Wait a second…if I'm with you…the darkness got me, didn't they?"

"Yeah, and it isn't an easy thing to forget. What didya do, take a dose of your amnesia dust or something?"

Tooth Fairy frowned. "No?"

"Was that a question or a statement?"

"Question. Maybe in the struggle some of it spilt on me…that would explain this headache."

"Good job," EB said, sarcastically.

Tooth squinted into the darkness. "Where are you?" he asked, trying to find his way back into the cell without a door.

"I'll go to you. Just…just don't laugh, alright?"

"I make no such promises," Tooth said.

Bunny sighed. "Fine."

Out of the darkness opposite Tooth came the smallest bunny he had ever seen. Tooth's first instinct was to laugh; and he would've…but instead all he felt was fear. His heart plummeted down into his stomach.

"Easter, what did they _do_ to you?"

"Power draining ceremony," he said. "The shadows or boogies or whatever they are aren't alone. They made a deal with this weird, blue wispy thing…she's awful. At least I think she's a she."

"Oh no," Tooth stammered.

"Yeah. I wish I could help you, Tooth, but I don't think I can. They've already taken all your stuff…all that's left is your magic."

"What about escape?"

"Tried it. What a fat load of rotten eggs that is, let me tell you. The hallways are foggy and the shadows purposely mess around with you. All you hear are the screams of the others, but you never find them. And the whole time in the back of your mind, your deepest darkest fears play out over and over…" EB shivered, his ears flat on his head. "It never ends..."

"There's no way out," Tooth realized. "All we can do is sit and wait and try to stay sane."

"At least we have each other."

Tooth wasn't sure if he should laugh or cry.

* * *

><p>It had taken half an hour to calm down Myles, and another half hour to locate Terri Tooth. Mother Nature was glad Terri wasn't as emotional as Peach had been…but she was <em>livid<em>. After successfully calming down her son (who had begun to overthink and had nearly hyperventilated once he told his Mother what had happened) and sending him back, assuring she'd be right behind him, Terri proceeded to yell at anyone who would listen about how angry she was they had gotten her dear old Toothy, sweet, sweet Roy, and that if she ever found the person responsible _so help her_—

"Terri darling, you need to calm down now. I'm not responsible for this, nor is Jack."

"Right. Sorry. These shadows and the darkness just get me so _mad_!"

"I know, I know. They get us all mad," Mother Nature had said, her soothing voice calming Terri down.

"Practically _furious_," Jack added, when Terri's brown eyes flashed his way.

"We'll find Tooth Fairy Terri, don't you worry."

"I know we will. I just…ugh." She breathed out, a hand on her forehead. "Alright, I'm going to head back to the Palace and clean up and get things in order, then I'm gonna have to keep a close eye on Myles—he'll be Tooth Fairy now, I assume."

Mother Nature nodded. "He and Olivia."

Terri breathed out. "Thank heavens. Good thing they got some experience before this whole thing happened…I'll be off now. Let me know how you proceed," Terri said, floating angrily towards the portal out and off to Tooth's Palace.

"How _do_ we proceed now?" Jack asked, fearful.

"Exactly as Terri has said. We enact the Legate Law on Tooth. We notify the other Legendaries and figure out where to go from there, I suppose. Just when I thought we were in the clear…"

"I'm going to bow out, Grandmother. Jacqueline told Mother already, can you believe it?"

"Easily," she replied, distracted. "I can only imagine the state your family is in. Off you run, tell your Mother not to worry. I'm sure I'll have to deal with your Aunt in a moment."

"Good luck," Jack said, dematerializing in his typical flurry of blue sparks and snowflakes.

"I'll need it," Mother Nature murmured, right as a burst of green sparks and petals heralded Spring's arrival.

"Mother say it isn't so, they got Tooth? I told you it was a big deal! You never listen, Mom!"

Mother Nature sighed. It was going to be a long few days.

* * *

><p><em>May 2009<em>

Aphrodite paced the floors, glancing at the front entrance every so often. No sign of her Uncle yet. Things had been incredibly hectic since Tooth's disappearance two weeks prior. Cupid had barely had time to chill out at home, let alone keep up with his duties. He and Aphrodite had had to split a heavier workload than the norm, no thanks to the constant council meetings and frequent ins and outs of Legends and political figures from Crystal Springs.

To top it all off, with another Legend gone the Legates had worked even harder to keep watch on their Legends…and her Uncle was _not_ making this easy. She could barely keep track of his whereabouts, what with all the visits here and there and the workload—they were right in the middle of vernorexia, the romantic mood inspired by spring. People everywhere were falling in love and so Cupid and his niece had to pull nearly _triple time_ to keep up with it all.

As much as she loved this time of year, she wasn't fond of the name it was given. It didn't sound very nice at all and if she was good with thinking of snappy names, Aphrodite would totally rename it. But alas, her strong points lay in leadership and proficiency with a good few weapons and not at snappy name making.

Speaking of weapons, the tall demigoddess' hands were itching to spread some love. She was already dressed to head out; she had put her typical pink stola away in favour of a white tunic tightened with a gold wrap that covered her tights, making it look like she wore a knee length skirt, until she crouched. Her bow was in her hand, long and tall like her, and her quiver of arrows was on her back, just below her long ponytail. She had already caught herself grabbing for an arrow while lost in thought—she really needed to get her absent minded arrow shooting under control.

She sighed, realizing how off track her thoughts were. If her Uncle didn't get back soon she was going to go stir-crazy.

"Ugh, what a day," the familiar grouchy voice rang out in the hall. Grinning, Aphrodite nearly tripped on her way to her Uncle.

"Finally you're here! What took so long?"

"The usual banter, of course. Ya think it'd be less since Bunny and Tooth are gone but no, it's about ten times worse. Then Jack and Father Time got into a heavy discussion—well more like a sass off, since the old man is all sensitive about his bald spot—and since we have two Legates sitting in now, it was way longer than the norm. Blossom's sugar intake was high, disaster I tell ya, disaster."

He grabbed two sheets from a cherub that floated by, reading them quickly as he continued his rant. "Then Mother N thought it would be best to go over _everything_ again, and I'm floating there like hello, it's a busy time of year for me too, ya know. Just because it's _not_ February though they assume I'm doing nothing but partying it up or whatever. Man, if the others knew how rough this business was…"

This was the norm for the odd pair. Cupid would come in and rant, and Aphrodite would wait until he finished before replying and cheering him up a little, though you could never really tell it helped.

"Well look on the bright side, now we can go shoot people and spread the love. What have we got today?" Aphrodite grinned and hovered in her excitement, trying to get a better look at the lists.

"End of the semester in some places. A lot of hookups going on, some that will end well, mind you. Some people who need confidence boosts or to be softened up a bit. I'll give you that list, you'll have more fun," he said, passing her the list of younger people. "This other one is just a bunch of old coots finding love again, always a wonderful thing," he said genuinely. "I'll handle this one."

"Think you'll be okay on your own, Uncle?"

He smiled then, a very rare thing. "Course I will kid, don't you worry about good old Uncle Cupid, I can handle whatever those wisps throw at me!" he said, his fists in the air.

Aphrodite laughed.

"'Sides, my list is a bit shorter than yours. I should be back here in no time at all, probably before you, safe and sound and waiting for you for supper, Aphrodite."

She grinned. "Alright. Don't get into any trouble," she said, hugging her tiny Uncle.

"I should be saying that to you!"

Winking, Aphrodite took off, soaring out of their house and knocking a few cherubs away with the large breeze her wingspan always created. They went flying in different directions; even Cupid was pushed back a bit, holding the edges of his toga down.

"I'll be fine," Cupid said aloud, reassuring himself before soaring out after his niece.

* * *

><p>Hours later Aphrodite crouched in a tree, grinning as she magically checked off the second to last names on her list. Now on her last pair, she had tailed them invisibly on their walk. The couple sat on a park bench, close but not yet touching; glancing at each other occasionally and blushing.<p>

One of them needed a confidence boost, for sure. Aphrodite was debating whether or not she should just shoot the both of them and call it a day—she was getting hungry. She began to nock the bright yellow arrow in, taking her aim. Pausing, she watched as the shorter girl glanced up and the taller girl, a certain look in her eye—she was waiting for the tall one to make the first move. Grinning, she waited to see the tall girl search for the confidence that wasn't there, to make sure she hit the one who needed it most. The tall one finally lightly grabbed her shorter companion's hand.

_Here we go,_ Aphrodite thought, letting the bowstring loose and watching the yellow arrow hit the tall one in the chest—the good thing about some arrows? You didn't necessarily have to hit the person in the butt to get the desired effect. The arrow dissolved, disappearing; the tall girl smiled and looked at the short one, gently turning her face towards her. She mumbled something; the short one nodded, smiling, and then…

"Yes!" Aphrodite whispered happily, as the two girls kissed. The move made, Aphrodite could now see their romantic future…and was greatly pleased. "Victory! Oh they're gonna have such a wonderful life together, I'm so happy for them!"

Grinning, she looked back one more time at the now smiling couple and set course for home. She flew fast, everything racing by until she reached the mountain range; up and up she flew until she broke through the clouds and found herself back in her cloudy city.

She landed gracefully on the front row of stairs of their cloudy villa, folding her wings back, her mind on dinner. Halfway up the stairs and nearing the entrance she stopped; something was…off. Really paying attention to her surroundings now, she looked around the cloudy expanse and finally noticed the murky skies.

"It can't be that late," she murmured. Retrieving a pocket watch from within her tunic, she stared at the timepiece. It was only five in the afternoon—definitely _not_ late enough for there to be dark skies. Even the clouds, normally white and fluffy and fragrant, were darker than usual. It wasn't a storm darkness—_this_ darkness was unnatural. That's when it hit her.

The darkness…

"Oh _no. _Please tell me this is _not_ happening…" Rightfully worried now, she took the steps two at a time, opening the door to their home. "Uncle Cupid?" she shouted into the house, entering and looking around.

It was dark. And cold. Granted, the Roman Pantheon of Gods and Goddesses was located high up in the sky, which could get chilly quite fast—but normally it wasn't as cold as this was. The hairs on the back of her neck stood up, a chill rippling through her. Her feathers ruffled, she walked into the atrium and stared up at the sky—it was still dark.

"Uncle Cupid!" she shouted, louder. Her voice echoed through the empty halls—even those annoying cherubs were missing.

Unsheathing her bow and nocking an arrow, Aphrodite walked through the large atrium. Her eyes peeled and her bowstring pulled back, ready to attack. Trying hard to ignore the overwhelming sense of fear slowly descending upon her, she strained her eyes for any clue as to what was happening in the shadows.

A dark mass moved, out into the peristylum. Her arrow flew, disappearing into the darkness. Loading another one and nervously gulping, she gathered as much strength as she possibly could and slowly made her way out into the gardens. She gasped and nearly lost her stance once she entered the usually gorgeous courtyard.

It was a _mess_.

The patio chairs were thrown about everywhere, plants crushed and trees fallen. Vases older than Aphrodite herself were shattered, works of art knocked down and torn. Statues had toppled, the delicate marble shattering in the more fragile places. The white stone floors were black, shadowy masses moving about them, revealing the porcelain tiles briefly before another mass of darkness covered them. It was in that moment that Aphrodite's worst suspicions were confirmed.

The darkness had found her Uncle.

Sensing her fear, the shadows moved towards her. Unfurling her wings she lifted herself above them, taking aim with her arrows. They hit the shadows, loud hisses ringing as they briefly split before reforming.

"Silly girl. You expect to fight darkness with a bow and arrow?" Said a voice.

"Who are you?" Aphrodite commanded, her last arrow ready to fire.

"What a demanding question. How _rude_," the voice said, a blue light appearing. "But then again, who are we all, really? Perhaps we're all just a figment of one person's imagination."

"What have you done with my Uncle?"

"Oh, I've taken him. He's somewhere very special now, with the other Legends I have taken already. Besides, it's not like anyone really _needs_ that diaper baby."

Enraged, Aphrodite launched her arrow.

"Oh, I hit a nerve, didn't I?" the light said gleefully, catching the arrow and sending it up in flames. "I told you fighting darkness with a bow and arrow was pointless."

"Oh, that was only the beginning," Aphrodite said. Pink light surrounded her bow, a spear taking its place. "I'm ready when you are, you stupid wisp."

"Stupid wisp? I'm _insulted_," she said, oozing sarcasm. "I'm not going to fight _you_. You're just a Legate. Older than the other three I've heard of but still quite the same—immature, overpowered, impulsive…"

"Immature?" Aphrodite screeched. She flew up, racing towards the blue light—how _dare_ this person take her Uncle and call her names, insult herself and the _other _Legates…

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," she said. A snap of her wispy fingers, and several shadowy figures raced up, grabbing the Legate's wings.

"Hey! Let go!"

She struggled, but more and more shadows dragged her down, their cold touch inciting fear. Down they went, taking the winged woman with them until she lay on the cold floor, shielding herself behind her wings, fear overwhelming her.

A trill of laughter that sent chills down her spine rang out. The blue light drifted towards her, taking the shape of a female.

"Sweet dreams, child. Sweet dreams to you and your precious Legendaries, while they still can…"

The melancholy laugh rang out again, and then everything went black.

* * *

><p><strong>AN-Greetings from East Sussex, England! I've decided to give you all a little treat tehehe...I really liked this chapter, despite how short it was! Well compared to other chapters I've written, it's short. But I loved it! Angry Terri, grouchy Cupid and a look at his Legate, Aphrodite. And look! Willow has appeared to a Legate (Legend now I suppose) and could that be a cryptic message? Dun dun DAH. Anywho, I leave for a weekend field trip super early tomorrow morning. My laptop will stay here so alas, I don't believe I will have time to write. And I was much too nervous on the plane to write as well. The next chapter is almost done though! And should be ready in a week (so I can keep to this occasional biweekly schedule of mine) if I use my time wisely. I'm doing a specialized archaeology course and it's a lot of field trips which are wonderful, man oh man. Anyway I'll stop rambling, and leave you to the disclaimers and white box. Drop me a line, whether it be a review or pm! Gush about everything and anything, tell me what you think about Tooth and Bunny's banter, Jack and Momma N's bonding (Jack's not the only person in the family who's full of himself hehe), Terri being angry, and Aphrodite and Cupid, everything about them! And keep the Willow compliments coming, it only fuels her (and my) ego even more huehuehue...**

* * *

><p><strong>DISCLAIMERS<strong>

**I do not own _The Santa Clause_, nor do I own Mother Nature, Jack Frost, EB, TF, Cupid or any other canon characters mentioned above. I am making no profit off of this, it is purely for my enjoyment as well as that of the readers. I do, however, own Crystal Springs as well as Jacqueline Frost, Jack's Sister/Legate, their family, the Legates (Jacqueline, Myles, Olivia, Blossom, Spring and Aphrodite, whom were mentioned this chapter). Any resemblance they bear to any specific person/place/thing is purely coincidental; please do not use them without MY permission. **


	9. Chapter Eight

**Chapter Eight  
><strong>_May 2009_

Aphrodite groaned, her eyes opening. She panicked momentarily; everything was still dark. Then she realized that she was still curled up within wings. Flipping over so she lay on the floor facing upwards the demigoddess braced herself, unfurling her wings carefully. The light was back; it stung her eyes for a bit but she adjusted fast. For a few moments she lay on the cool floor, focusing on her breathing. She had a killer headache; tentatively she touched her head. No sticky feel—she wasn't bleeding. Her wings had softened her fall—sometimes she swore they had a mind of their own.

She sat up, her head briefly spinning. A few more seconds of waiting and the world was finally steady. She glanced around—the darkness was gone now.

And so was her Uncle.

She got up, staggering a bit before falling. _Standing up is not a good idea just yet_, she thought, her hands stopping her fall. Once more breathing in and out deeply, she closed her eyes and balled her hands into fists. Something smooth and hard brushed against her fingertips; opening her eyes, she stared at the object.

It was Cupid's small bow. She gasped, words caught in the back of her throat, eyes pricking. She gently picked it up, cradling it close to her. She scanned the peristylum once more—he really was gone.

"Okay Aphrodite, keep calm and focus," she said to herself. "Let's try standing again." She got up, her vision blurring briefly; wiping her eyes and reminding herself to be calm, she sniffed and held the heat behind her eyes back, trying to force it down. Still clasping Cupid's bow, she made a list.

First on that list was to find any of the cherubs and begin a cleanup effort. She was sure they were around here somewhere, probably hiding outside in the bushes. Once she found them and informed them of the situation and gave them the orders, she would have to inform the other Legendaries of the most recent disappearance…and then become Cupid herself, she supposed.

Making her way out back, she whacked the bushes with Cupid's bow. Finally finding several cherubs, she told them what had happened and began the clean up. Satisfied with the way things were going, Aphrodite—still clutching her Uncle's bow—took a deep breath.

Time to tell the others.

* * *

><p>"Yes Charlie, I know…of course I remembered the date! I know it's May…only a little scatterbrained, you know how it is, always busy. Yup…Mhmm…sure Sport, I'll talk to you later. Tell her I said hi! Bye now."<p>

Santa hung up the phone and sat at his desk frowning, which was hardly unusual as of late. Ever since Tooth's disappearance, things had been hectic. So hectic in fact that since Charlie's departure back in March, Santa had in fact neglected to take account of the date—it was already May. In two months—no, less—Charlie would be staying up North for a longer time (as he had reminded his Dad several times during their phone call) and they still hadn't resolved the disappearances.

The last thing he needed right now was more bad news, that was for sure. Especially since he had no idea what to tell Charlie, come July.

"This is…not where I wanted to be…"

Santa looked up, startled by the unfamiliar voice. In the middle of his office stood a winged woman, her back towards him. Her wings were _huge_, Santa thought, shocked. She turned around, her blonde ponytail swishing, and stared at Santa.

"Hi there," Santa ventured. "I'm sorry, who are you?"

The woman walked towards his desk, standing instead of taking the chair. She was incredibly tall too, he realized, looking up at her. And not an elf. Who else did he know who had wings like that? Instantly the image of Cupid popped into his mind; when he realized that the woman had said figure's bow in his hands, it clicked…and his heart sank.

"Don't tell me. You're Cupid's Legate."

She smiled. "My name is Aphrodite. I meant to go to Mother Nature's place…but with what just happened I'm not surprised I ended up here."

"What just happened?"

The woman closed her eyes, breathing deeply; she seemed very reserved, Santa noted. She placed the bow on his desk.

"They got my Uncle. They got Cupid."

"They?"

"The darkness."

* * *

><p>"Why are we so close to the workshop?" Elle asked, slightly behind her frosty-haired friend.<p>

"I did say this lesson would be different," Jacqueline said, stopping in her tracks. She stared around them—they were in the town square, but a more secluded place with many snow drifts. In fact, both girls were up to their ankles in the fluffy white stuff.

"Yeah, but you also said we should probably go far off, though you didn't say why and coming from you Jacquie, this concerns me."

Satisfied with the area, Jacqueline plopped down in the snow grinning, Elle sitting across from her.

"Okay. So we've worked with a lot of different magical techniques the past few years. It occurred to me that while we've practised you picking stuff up, moving stuff, etcetera via magic we haven't actually done one of the most crucial—and fun—magical techniques."

"And what is that?"

Jacqueline grinned, borderline maniacally. "Redirecting magic!"

"Redirecting?"

"Yeah! Okay so let's say you're minding your own business when the Darkness comes and starts throwing stuff at you."

"That's…that's really specific Jacqueline. Are you sure you're not being a little bit paranoid?"

Jacquie sighed. They had had this conversation many times already; and though Elle was right about the winter sprite's paranoia, Jacqueline insisted she wasn't being paranoid but practical.

"Positive! Fine then, the Darkness isn't your style. Let's use a Dalek. So a Dalek appears and starts throwing stuff at you."

"They don't _throw_ stuff, they exterminate you."

"With a plunger and a whisk?"

"They're awful, those space dustbins."

Jacquie sighed. "Okay, forget the hypothetical snow then. You're being attacked by some form of bad creature and whether it's a Dalek or the Darkness is neither here nor there. They're attacking you and you're caught off guard—don't start with that look, I _know_ you're never caught off guard."

Elle grinned.

"Right. So they throw something at you. What do you do?"

"Dodge? Throw back?"

"Sort of. You redirect their attack. Which is what we're gonna be doing today. Your magic is very strong Elle and this will be a piece of cake. A very fun piece of cake."

"Okay hold on a minute here. I think I see where this is going, Jacquie. I'm not sure I want to throw your attacks back at you, won't it hurt?"

"Nope," Jacquie said, conjuring up a snowball.

"But you're—" a snowball to the face cut her off. "What was that?"

"The lesson beginning and you're already being totalled by the Darkness."

"Some warning would be great—ah!"

"Dalek's don't give warnings!"

"Yes they do!"

"Oh yes, that's right, they do! EXTERMINATE!" A snowball went flying right at Elle; frustrated, she looked at the flying projectile and made it stop in midair.

"There we go! Now throw it back."

"Way ahead of you," she said. Focusing on the snowball, she pushed it back at her wintery friend, who promptly blocked it.

"Woah, who said blocking was allowed?"

"I didn't say the darkness wouldn't block."

"That was sneaky," Elle said, another snowball effortlessly redirected.

"I'm all about being sneaky," Jacquie grinned. "Let's make them bigger, shall we?"

They practised for a while, the snowballs getting bigger and bigger with the occasional ice cube thrown in. Elle had no problem with the technique; in fact, it had really just turned into a magical snowball fight instead of a lesson. Elle kept trying to get a hit in, but Jacqueline was blocking every single one. Their concentration didn't break once and Jacqueline soon found herself battling a case of the giggles.

"Why are you laughing?" Elle asked, feeling her own round of giggles coming up.

"I have no idea," Jacqueline said, laughter briefly stopped. "It always happens when there's a snowball fight involved. I just start _laughing_."

"You told me yourself this was a very serious magical lesson," Elle said. The two girls blinked at each other and burst out laughing.

"Serious magical lesson!" Jacqueline laughed. "Oh man, I must have been kidding myself…Elle? Elle, you okay?"

The elf had stopped laughing, brow furrowed.

"What's wrong?"

"There's an unfamiliar mind somewhere around here. One I've never heard before," Elle said. On alert, Jacqueline looked around the square, searching for this new mind. Up on the main steps of the Workshop stood a very tall, very blonde, and very fluffy woman.

"Oh no," Jacqueline said.

"You know her?" Elle asked.

"Yeah. I do. She's one of the Legates…oh dear." Picking up her skirts, Jacqueline ran to the Workshop steps to the woman's side.

"'Dite…you okay?"

"I…"

Jacqueline stared at the Legate, noticing her red face and how distant she seemed. She was holding something in her hands tightly; Jacqueline squinted…it was a very small bow. Blue eyes looked at brown and it clicked.

"Oh no."

"They…they got him."

Ignoring the crushing weight in her gut, Jacqueline opened her arms for a hug. Aphrodite hesitated, then (much to the surprise of both Legates) graciously accepted the hug. The emotion she had held at bay all day began to seep outwards. She could feel the tears leaking out, her body shaking with sobs. She dropped to her knees, Jacqueline still hugging her and falling down with her, holding the demigoddess as tight as possible.

"He's all I had…and now he's gone."

* * *

><p>In her years as an elf, Elle had seem some strange things. Heck, she had <em>done<em> some strange things. But this was probably the strangest thing she had ever seen.

Elle had followed Jacquie to the steps, stopping at the bottom. She had no idea who this new person was and as she watched her friend gently talk to this incredibly tall woman, just served to confuse her a little bit more. It didn't help that her mind was incredibly new to Elle and in a turmoil-filled state of disarray—something crucial had happened to this woman recently. Sensing that this was a moment between the blonde and Elle's friend the elf hung back, waiting for some kind of word from the sprite.

_Her name is Aphrodite. She's Cupid's Legate,_ Jacquie told Elle mentally.

_What's happened? And should I do something? I feel a little out of place._

_The Darkness has gotten Cupid. I'm not sure if she's told anyone else just yet. Find Santa or Bernard, see what she's said…we may be a while here._

_Tell me if you need anything,_ Elle said, making her way up the other set of stairs. Entering the workshop, she looked around, trying to find Bernard. She rushed through the main floor, making her way to Santa's office in the hopes that she'd run into Bernard on the way.

"Elle!"

"Bernard!" She turned around and saw him fast approaching her side.

"Do you have any idea what's just happened? I saw one of the Legates, Aphrodite, leaving the Workshop a moment ago."

"That's why I was looking for you. Jacqueline and I ran into her and Jacquie's with her now."

"Has she said anything?" Bernard asked, as the two of them made their way to Santa's office.

"She told Jacquie that the Darkness got Cupid, but Jacquie doesn't know who else she's told."

"Normally Legates would go to Mother Nature. I wonder why she came here…"

"Maybe she had a teleportation malfunction. That _is_ a thing."

"The only time we fail in teleporting is when we think of the place we want to go to and it's changed since the last time we were there, or when something very traumatic has happened."

"Her mind _was_ a mess. I got the sense something bad had happened. You don't think she _saw_ her Uncle get taken…do you?" Elle asked.

Bernard blanched. "You know what I'm thinking."

They both shared a look and sped up, bursting into Santa's office.

"I was just about to call you two," Santa said. He sat at his desk, Mother Nature across from him.

"I saw Aphrodite run out," Bernard said.

"Jacqueline is outside with her now," Elle added. "I left them be and came to figure out what happened."

"Did she tell you anything?" Mother Nature asked.

"She told Jacquie that Cupid was gone. Is it true?"

"I'm afraid so. And it's far worse than that."

"How could it be worse?" Bernard asked.

"Their leader revealed herself to Aphrodite and gave her a message for us," Mother Nature began. "And it's not a good one."

* * *

><p>"That was embarrassing," the blonde Legate said nearly twenty minutes later. She sat on the steps beside Jacqueline, her eyes red, puffy and swollen, her makeup running. Jacqueline sat close to her, her hand resting gently on the winged woman's arm, the cool touch comforting after her little breakdown.<p>

"People cry," Jacqueline said. "Even immortal demigoddesses such as yourself."

"You'll never let me live this down," Aphrodite began.

"When this darkness mess is worked out you bet I won't. But for now it's our secret."

"Ours and your friend who was with us. Was that Elle?"

Jacqueline nodded.

"Uncle Cupid worked really hard on _that_ match," Aphrodite said. "I'm glad it's working out." She sniffled.

"Hey, it's okay," Jacqueline said, magicking a tissue and handing it to her companion. "We'll figure this out. This is the third Legend gone, I'm sure by now Mother Nature will put us Legates in the loop. We'll find your Uncle, and the others."

"I'm not too sure she'll be letting us in the loop," Aphrodite began. "When I got back after my rounds earlier, the house was dark. Shadows were everywhere. This blue light appeared. It looked like it was female; she spoke like one too. Said awful things about my Uncle and us Legates."

Jacqueline growled. "Legate hate. I can't believe it's still a thing, after all these centuries."

"She didn't hate…she _mocked_. It was awful. I tried to hit her but the arrows just burnt up. She _caught_ them."

"She had hands?"

"Kind of? I couldn't begin to explain it at all, Jacqueline." Aphrodite sighed, wiping her still runny eyes once more. "The darkness eventually overcame me. The shadows grabbed my wings."

"Feathers okay? Bones still intact?"

"Thankfully. But when they grabbed me…all the terror I felt…I saw my worst fears in front of my eyes as I went down. And that's when it happened. The blue light woman gave me a message."

"Message?"

"It was disguised in an insult…long story short, I think Sandman's next."

"Oh gods…he's one of the most powerful on the Council."

Aphrodite nodded. "They're getting stronger. And if they intend to go after Sandy…"

"We should warn Xander."

"I want to. But I think they're going to call a Council meeting and I think I'm going to have to tell them what happened. At least, that's what Mother Nature said. Nothing about a Summit though which is _why_ I don't think she's letting us in the loop."

"Let's hear what Elle's found out," Jacqueline began. Searching her mind for the green connection that was her mental link to Elle, Jacquie poked at her consciousness.

_Wait until you hear what I've found out,_ she said.

_Wait until you hear what _I_ found out,_ her friend replied. _You first._

_Aphrodite saw the darkness after they had taken her Uncle. She saw their leader and she gave Aphrodite a disguised message that's implying Sandy is next. Grandmother Nature wants to hold a Council meeting ASAP. Any word on that?_

_Yes. She was in Santa's office. They're deciding where to hold it right now. Aphrodite is going to have to tell them what happened—everything I found out is basically what you just told me. Is Aphrodite going to be able to? Is she okay now?_

_Give me a moment._

"What's Elle saying?"

"Mother Nature is going to hold a Council meeting. She wants you to tell them the story. Elle wants to know if you're okay with that."

"I'll be able to hold it together long enough. Any word on Legate involvement?"

"Give me a moment."

_She'll be fine for it. 'Dite and I wanna know if Grandmother N is finally letting the Legates into the loop._

_She hasn't mentioned it, and mentally she doesn't seem keen on bringing in the Legates._

"She doesn't seem keen on it."

"Alright. Here's my plan," Aphrodite began. "As soon as that meeting is over, or as soon as I can leave, you and I will go warn Xander since Mother Nature is "keen" on the council handling this on their own. I'll try during the meeting to get her to hold a Legate-Legend Summit soon because if the Shadows truly have gotten powerful enough to get Sandy, well…we're gonna need all the help we can get."

"I'll stick around, then."

_They're going to hold the meeting here in fifteen minutes,_ Elle told Jacquie. _I asked about the rest of the Legates sitting in. She said not just yet which is incredibly frustrating, I don't know how you guys do it._

_Aunt Spring is gonna be steamed when she hears about this. At least she's considering it. Not just yet…that means soon._

"They're starting in fifteen," Jacqueline said aloud.

"Talk about short notice."

"They probably know Elle's talking to me."

_Mother Nature says for you to send Aphrodite over, go grab Jack and stay home after. Man, she really doesn't want you guys in the know, does she?_

Jacqueline growled. _She's got this whole "extra fear-mongering" thing preventing her from bringing in the Legates even though four of us now are already sitting in! Stay at home my frosty behind…_

_I guess I'll be seeing you soon then?_

_You know it._

"I guess I have to head back in now."

Jacqueline nodded. "Better not keep them waiting. I have this unsettling feeling that Mother Nature might be freaking out just a little bit."

Sighing, Aphrodite got up. She stared at the little bow once more before hoisting it on her back. "You'll be off to fetch your brother now, won't you?"

"Yeah. But I'll be back and hanging around waiting for you," the white-haired sprite said, getting up.

"Before you go, Jacqueline…I just wanted to say thanks. For, you know…all that."

"Oh." She looked taken aback. "You're welcome, 'Dite."

The blonde grinned, hugging Jacqueline quickly. "I'll see you in a bit," she said, making her way into the Workshop.

"Yeah," Jacquie replied, dematerializing in her flurry of snowflakes and sparks. "See you in a bit."

* * *

><p>"Maybe he's dead."<p>

"No, he has a pulse. Right there, see?"

"Do gods even breathe?"

"I'm sure they do…right?"

"I'm a bunny, why are you asking me?"

"I don't see anyone _else_ around."

Cupid groaned loudly, opening his eyes. The two Legends in front of him jumped back, startled.

"We thought you were dead!" Tooth said. Cupid stared at him.

"I'm an immortal god, I can't _die_ Tooth!"

"Well you were looking pretty still," Bunny said.

"What do _you_ know, you're a rabbit! A really small rabbit…what happened to ya? You look adorable, this is a first."

"Hey!"

Tooth snickered.

"Woah woah wait a second," Cupid said, fluttering on the spot. "You two are supposed to be missing."

"We are," Tooth said.

"And you Tooth…where's your sparkle?"

"Gone."

"Gone, what do you mean gone?"

"Did you have some amnesia dust too?" Bunny asked. Tooth growled; Cupid's confusion deepened.

"Give it some time," Tooth said. "He'll remember soon…how long did it take you?"

EB shrugged. "I didn't time it, I was too busy realizing I was _trapped_!"

"I got back from my runs," Cupid began slowly. "Aphrodite wasn't back yet. The house felt chilly; I assumed my Mother had come by. Turns out she hadn't…but shadows had." Both Legends flinched, having experienced what Cupid had so recently experienced already. "They were everywhere! Broke some of my nice vases! I put up a good fight but they eventually overwhelmed me. Saw some pretty scary things…and then woke up and saw even scarier things."

"What? _What_!?" Bunny asked.

"You two. Ha!"

"Hey!"

"Ha. That felt good."

"Enjoy the good feeling while it lasts, because sooner or later they'll come for _you_."

"And do what they did to you guys to me? What _did_ they do to you two, you look _awful_."

The two figures glanced at each other sadly. They looked _dreadful_ if Cupid was honest with himself. The sparkle in Tooth's wings was gone; they were droopy. His pockets seemed empty, his flight cap gone. His face was smeared with dirt, bags under his eyes. Bunny was in no better shape; he was incredibly small, his fur matted with dirt and shorter in some places.

"It's some kind of magical draining ceremony," Tooth began. "They've taken our powers from us."

"Our essences?"

"Right on out of us like it's nothing. They got me almost right away; they did Tooth a day or two after he arrived."

Cupid frowned. "Well I ain't letting them take that from me. If there's one thing I'm good at, it's hiding—there's no way I'm going through what you two went through."

"Good luck with that," Bunny said. "Things move, the shadows create confusion and there are others trapped in here too, constantly screaming…"

"They're not managing their fear well. They're probably alone."

"Is that why you two aren't screaming?"

"Most likely," Tooth said. "We've been trying to map the place, but with how fast everything moves and how fast the mist rolls in…it's hard."

"Well if I'm gonna avoid that freaky shadow leader and their weird voodoo draining ceremonies, I'm gonna need to know as much as you guys have found out."

"Ha! It ain't much of a chat, buddy..."

* * *

><p>"Really? She still won't bring you bunch in?"<p>

"Really! I've had it up to here with her antics," Jacqueline fumed, walking down the path at Frost Mansion with her brother by her side. He strode casually but with purpose, whereas Jacqueline was incredibly tense, her brow furrowed. She frowned, rigid; her arms were straight at her sides, her hands balled into fists. She and her brother were making their way to the hill down the road to teleport off to the North Pole for the emergency meeting.

Upon leaving to fetch her brother, the young sprite found her annoyance growing into anger, and full out frustration. By the time she turned up at the gates and stomped inside, Jack was already ready, claiming that he could hear her anger from all the way down the street. She had given Jack the brief summary of the events that had transpired and—since she wasn't that great at controlling her anger as Jack was all too aware—had proceeded to vent to her legendary counterpart.

"Grandmother can be quite irritating at times, Slushy."

"Ugh, tell me about it."

"I could go on for _centuries_," he continued, the gates letting them out onto the cobblestone road.

"Please _don't_. The question was rhetorical," Jacquie huffed.

"You need to chill."

"Rich coming from you, you're in the know. She won't even let me stay in the vicinity!"

"Like that's going to stop you," Jack said.

"Never has."

"Well sister dear, if it makes you feel any better I'll bring it up at the meeting. She really should let the other Legates sit in now. This is getting ridiculous," Jack said, his true worry and unease appearing.

"Really? You'd do that for me?"

"There's nothing in this world I _wouldn't_ do for you, Jacqueline."

Jacqueline smiled, a light blush on her face. It was times like these that Jack looked at his sister and still saw that little imp of a toddler who had once insisted on being his shadow.

"Thanks Jack," she said as they approached the hill. Her brother smiled in response, the two sprites disappearing right at the top of the hill.

* * *

><p>When the two sprites reappeared in the heart of the Pole and made their way to the meeting room, they were met with two very angry elves.<p>

"We're not late," Jack defended.

"Not why we're mad, Frost," Bernard said, frowning.

"Mother Nature won't let the two of us sit in either!"

"Seriously?" Jacqueline asked, her and Jack wearing similar looks of disbelief.

"Seriously," Elle continued. "If it was just me I'd understand a little bit, but she also won't let Bernard in. I can't believe this! How do you and the other Legates stand this?"

Jacqueline sighed. "Centuries of it eventually wears you down."

"That's it," Jack said. "Mother Nature needs an intervention. I _will_ avenge you three," Jack said, striding into the meeting room.

If she wasn't so miffed Jacqueline would have laughed at Jack's statement. As the door slammed and locked the trio out, Jacqueline began to think.

"I can't do this," she said out loud. "There's no way I'm sitting out here while the Council is in there making all the decisions."

"Not much else we can do," Bernard said.

"There's something I can do though," the sprite said. Grinning, she moved closer to the door and touched the frame. Her finger began to disappear, an icy trail of frost in its place.

"What are you doing?" Elle asked, watching her friend slowly turn to frost.

"I'm going in. Don't worry Elle, I turn to frost _all_ the time. Mostly," she said, completely disappearing.

_I'll keep you two posted,_ she told Elle mentally. _Just act like everything is natural and you're both still upset about this whole thing._

"What did she say?"

"She wants us to act natural. She'll keep us posted. We just have to go about our business and pretend we're still upset."

"I am still upset."

Elle grinned. "Of course you are."

"But also pretty impressed. Never would have guessed Jacqueline would do that."

"Really?"

"Really." Bernard laughed. "If _Jacqueline_ is disobeying her Grandmother's orders…."

He didn't finish the thought. He didn't need to. Jacqueline's defiance said it all: things were getting far too serious.

* * *

><p><strong>AN-Heyo from England yo! A couple of updates for you all before I gush about this chappie, ask for your thoughts and hound you with disclaimers. **

**I'm back in Canada on Saturday thank heavens. England has been great but it's super expensive and being so remote has really gotten to me. I'm just about ready to head home and sleep for days. In other news, did you now that NaNoWiMo has a summer equivalent? Camp NaNoWiMo, in which the month of July you set your own goal and just write? I'm doing it for my old old original story Remnants soo for July I most likely won't be working on Dark Shadows much...updates will be pretty rare until maybe late August, I dunno yet. I'm gonna get Remnants done and for that I need to put my lovely Crystal Springs aside for a bit. If you look it up you should totally add me as a friend or w/e, my user there is the same as my penname here!**

**So on that note, Chapter Eight! AND cliffie free mostly! I must admit I've been feeding on your fears of JAck being taken or other Legends going and I am enjoying it immensely. I am so sorry (mostly) bt as a writer I THRIVE ON THOSE LOVELY REVIEWS! Drop a line, let me know what you thought about this chapter and say hi even, my inbox is always open! And on that note, Disclaimers!**

* * *

><p><strong>DISCLAIMERS <strong>

**I do not own The Santa Clause, nor do I own Mother Nature, Bernard, Jack Frost, EB, TF, Cupid or any other canon characters mentioned above. I am making no profit off of this, it is purely for my enjoyment as well as that of the readers. I do, however, own Crystal Springs as well as Jacqueline Frost, Jack's Sister/Legate, their family, the Legates (Jacqueline, Myles, Olivia, Blossom, Spring and Aphrodite, and all whom were mentioned this chapter). Any resemblance they bear to any specific person/place/thing is purely coincidental; please do not use them without MY permission.**

**I also do not own Elle. She belongs to the lovely Ana, aka etiquette-faux-pas. I am merely borrowing her and have vowed to return her relatively unharmed.**

**And lastly, I do not own Doctor Who or the Daleks. Otherwise I would have made myself the Doctor by now. I'd take a TARDIS over a plane any day. **


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